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"All down the long days of summer's end, I listened
to the dead."
Thus does the narrator of 'Dog Years' begin her
tale. Like 'Adventures
in the Ghost Trade', this story is concerned with the spirit
world. The setting is modern day Britain. A young girl lies in bed close
to death, whiling away her hours by listening to the whispers of the
dead. She's not afraid - since she may join their number any day, she
believes that she could benefit by being familiar with ghosts. In time,
she starts to talk to the dead, and gradually she becomes the sole focus of
their attention. Then the spirit of a young Celtic girl appears to our
heroine, and offers her a Faustian pact... Since Sylvie seems doomed to
die, what could she possibly lose?
The dead are hungry to see the world through her
eyes. Unfortunately, they seem to be attracted to suffering and pain, and
become too greedy. They cannot control Sylvie, but they can influence
her. It could be that Sylvie is psychotic, or schizophrenic, a confused
adolescent overthrown by the turmoil of puberty. But Henry James has
already turned the screw on that interpretation, so from the first, we're left
in no real doubt that these particular spirits are real. Especially since
there are objective clues to Sylvie's plight, the most noticeable being that
she never seems to grow old. In connection with 'The Blood Thieves' and
'Adventures in the Ghost Trade', there is a snippet of Liz Williams'
wanderlust, as Sylvie ends up as a reporter in Beirut. The ending could
be seen as a mundane deus ex machina, yet Williams leave sufficient ambiguity
in order for the reader to construct their own ending, to a certain
extent. Again, Williams' first person narration works very well, and
Sylvie is very believable. Liz Williams has produced another enduring,
spooky tale which grips from start to finish.
authortrek rating: 9/10.
Kevin Patrick Mahoney
'Dog Years' was published in Interzone number 152 February 2000.
|
Visit our Liz Williams page,
for a Liz Williams biography, bibliography, Liz Williams short stories, and
interviews |
