“Table for Two” is a wonderful collection of six short stories and one novella. The short stories all take place, at least in part, in New York City and the novella, which is one of the most enjoyable things I have read in a long time, takes place in Los Angeles.
Each of the stories reflect the ups and downs of marriage, money, culture and life in general. For instance, the first story, “The Line”, is a tale of two Russian peasants just trying to survive in 1918 Moscow. Pushkin, a farmer, and his wife Irina, move to Moscow where Pushkin is completely unprepared for every job he attains. Irina, on the other hand, works 12 hour days and is a member of the workers’ committee. Her disgust with her husband’s inability to hold a job is best illustrated when she exclaims “’Dismissed!…How does one get fired from Communism?’” Irina assigns her husband the domestic tasks of standing in line for bread and life’s other essentials. Even this he cannot do properly, but because of his kind nature he finds himself agreeing to stand in line for other people. This job as a stand in becomes his full time vocation and ultimately lands the couple in New York, where it all starts over.
In “The Ballad of Timothy Touchett”, Timothy, a recent college graduate, spends his time at the New York Public Library, waiting to become a famous novelist. Unfortunately, Timothy has no story to tell. While sitting in the library he meets a man who owns a bookstore that sells rare books to collectors. The value of the books increases if the books are autographed. While working at the store, Timothy helps attain some seemingly impossible autographs. By the end of the story, Timothy definitely has a story to tell.
“I will Survive” is a story of a mother daughter relationship and their growing understanding of each other. Nell’s mother Peggy lives in the upper east side with her second husband, John. Peggy’s first husband and Nell’s father, Harry Foster had numerous affairs and left Peggy. Peggy tells Nell that she thinks John is having an affair and Nell offers to follow him. Peggy says no but Nell follows him anyway and discovers what he is doing. When she discloses John’s activities to Peggy, everything changes and the unintended consequences of the disclosure affect all of their lives.
Each of the short stories is well told and thought provoking. But the novella, “Eve in Hollywood” is just irresistible. In September of 1988, Evelyn Ross, the lead character of “Rules of Civility”, is headed back home from New York when she decides to extend her train ticket and go to Los Angeles. This is in 1918. While on the train she meets an older man, Charlie Granger, a recently widowed retired police officer. They part as friends upon arrival in Los Angeles.
Eve settles herself in a high end hotel and meets Prentice Symmons, who introduces himself to her as “an aging, overweight oncewas who no longer lays claim to his city’s indulgences.” In response, Eve tells him she has “a soft spot for oncewases.” A fast friendship forms.
Eve meets Olivia de Havilland when she runs into her in the lady’s room of a high end restaurant. Having noticed that Olivia seemed awfully bored with her companion, Eve approaches the table, makes an excuse for Olivia and they make their escape. Olivia is under contract with a studio and the studio watches every move she makes. Eve gives Olivia a sense of adventure and another fast friendship has formed.
When Olivia receives a package of compromising photographs with a blackmail letter attached, Eve and her new fast friends set out on an adventure to destroy the photos and ensure they never see the light of day. A grand combination mystery/detective story follows. And I will stop here so that you can read the novella and enjoy its twists and turns.
Table For Two is an enjoyable romp. It has a little bit of everything for literary fiction lovers. The stories and novella are thoughtful, well written and clever. I wish I could read it again for the first time! Table For Two can be reserved at the Cuyahoga County Public Library by clicking on: https://discover.cuyahogalibrary.org/Record/248617