I Hear You're Rich

June 5, 2023
Williams (How High?—That High) explores the pleasures and disappointments of adulthood in this distinctive collection. “Oriel?” the crystalline opener, begins with the pregnant narrator serving a cake at her mother-in-law’s place. Walking back to her own home, she considers naming her baby Clara, “which means shining and bright,” as her gaze settles on dark shadows under a tree. In “Zwip-Zwip,” a mother watches her grown son play with a toy called an Easy Disk while her grandson crawls and cries, craving their attention. The narrator of “We Had a Lot of Fun Dancing” recounts the awkward sex he had with an older woman he met at costume party as a young man (“I had little experience. Eventually, I landed in the right place”). Nevertheless, the woman expresses a desire to see him again, which simultaneously excites and rattles him, because he doesn’t see a future with her. Williams’s blend of precision and understatement make her insights on her characters’ fears and limitations cut deeply while leaving the stories open to interpretation. This will leave readers aching in all the best ways.