Short Story Saturday: "Companion" & "Maia in Yonkers" by Sana Krasikov

Reviewing short stories individually is a new exercise for me. They are short for one thing. And while some may pack a big punch within a few pages, jotting down my thoughts for a single story still feels somehow incomplete. I have a number of short story collections and anthologies sitting on my shelves, and my plan is to work my way through them, one by one. I have gotten into the habit of reading collections and anthologies of short stories as if I were reading a novel, reading story after story with no break in between, all the while searching for overreaching themes and ideas. I may still do that to some degree, however, I also want to take advantage of the fact that the short stories in a collection can be read independently from one another. It may be that I devote several Short Story Saturdays to one collection or I will cover a book of short stories all at once. I may even stray from my TBR pile and mention a short story I find online or in a magazine.

I decided to begin my short story reading with Sana Krasikov's One More Year: Stories. I only have a half hour break for lunch during the day and it seemed fitting to fill that time with a short story while I was inbetween novels this past week.

Since she'd arrived in America and gotten divorced, Ilona Siegal had been set up three times. [excerpt from "Companion"]

And so opens Ilona's story in "Companion." Divorced and with no where to go, Ilona had moved in with a man twenty-five years her senior. Earl is ailing and Ilona fills a need for him, caring for him occasionally and keeping him company. Much like Earl, she is lonely, only he does not quite fill that same need that she does for him. Her friends do not seem to understand her anymore, having moved on with their own lives. She has been set up with numerous men, the most recent a fellow Georgian who has come to the country seeking a better life and more opportunity. Ilona herself longs for love, for someone who will show her appreciation and affection.

I did not find Ilona especially likeable; she struck me as someone who uses others, particularly men, to get what she wants. At the same time, I could not help but admire her strength and instinct for survival. She was a woman who followed her heart, coming to America for love only to have lost it. And yet, she continues to search for it even after.

I next turned to "Maia in Yonkers," the story of a Maia, a woman who made her way to the United States to support her family, leaving behind her son, Gogi, in Georgia (former Soviet Union). Her sister, Lela, had been kind enough to take him in, only he is older now and harder to control, hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Maia's son, Gogi, is coming for a visit to New York. She could not be more excited. He has changed so much since she last saw him. He is older now and angry. Being separated from his mother has been difficult for him too. My heart went out to him, even when I was most frustrated with him.

He's still a big child, with a child's magical oblivion to danger. This is why children win Olympic medals, she thinks, why audiences go to hear ten-year-old violinists; at their age, the music is still more real for them than the crowd. [excerpt from "Maia in Yonkers"]

I instantly liked Maia. She has had a difficult life. Her husband was killed years before, and she was left to try and fend for what was left of her family. She traveled to a completely foreign country, took up a job caring for an elderly woman and is doing what she can to support her family back home. Being separated from her family and all she knows is the biggest struggle of all. Yet she perseveres.

Sana Karsikov has a gift for drawing out her characters in only a few pages and telling their stories in so few words. Within both of these stories, the readers are offered only a slice of their lives, and yet we still come away knowing much about them, including their struggles and their hopes. The immigrant story is one I am drawn to, and Sana Karsikov captures it quite well in these first two stories, in particular the second. I look forward to my continued reading of One More Year.

(Short Story Saturday is brought to you by the host of Short Story Sunday, James of Ready When You Are, C.B., & Short Story Monday, John of The Book Mine Set.)