LIFE'S VAGARIES Robert Durrell

*Appeared in Temiskaming Speaker

(Canada), May 12, 1976; and The Cornwall

Weekly News, March 10, 1976, p.7

Life's Vagaries, Stephen Gill's collection of 14 short stories, was published in 1974. In it, he demonstrates that he's an adept and versatile writer. The stories depict real situations in which ordinary people react in credible ways. This authenticity adds much to the book's appeal and success.

The stories concern a wide range of subjects: loneliness, frustration, war, disappointment. loyalty, marriage. death and love. The stories' settings are as equally varied: Ottawa, Beirut, Toronto, Adi Ugri. Calgary, the jungles of Bangladesh and other locations. In them. Mr. Gill examines such themes as women's liberation, the difficulty for immigrants to find employment and the general troubles of life. The situations in the stories are quite ordinary; they could happen to anyone at anytime.

For instance, in the story "Aunt Disappears", when Emma pays her traditional New Year's visit to Aunt Ruth in the village of Monkview, she finds the house decorated in its usual manner but her aunt is not at home. Hector. her nephew, learns Ruth is visiting Ted, a man who has spent 20 years behind bars for murdering his wife. Ted is now suffering from stomach cancer and requires some care.

In "Determination", an aspiring sculptor married Liza, an income‑tax office secretary who doesn't believe in women working outside the home after marriage. Within a year. a son arrived. A few months later Liza announces she's pregnant again. Being a lowly office clerk, Rejean feels the financial pinch. Liza suggests that he obtain another job. The following day he announces that he has found a position but would not earn any commission for one year. On Liza's next birthday, Rejean takes her out to dinner and to an art exhibition. Liza is surprised when she learns that the works in the show were done by her husband in the hours he was at his second job.

Life's Vagaries encompasses many themes in numerous settings. The stories demonstrate that people in various parts of the world have the same hopes, fears, problems and ambitions. In other words, life is similar throughout the world. Readers who like short stories will be pleasantly entertained by Life's Vagaries.

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