In Gwen E. Kirby’s short story collection Shit Cassandra Saw, women are broken up with, fa

InGwen E. Kirby’s short story collection Shit Cassandra Saw, women are broken up with, fall apart, find toughness in their bodies, find their own ways towards autonomy. The stories are harsh and sharp at the edges, with a dollop of irony whipped in. 

In “Marcy Breaks Up With Herself,” a woman enduring heartbreak tries to invest in a Marie Kondo–like minimalist system, in a weird, self-destructive, liberating move. In “Here Preached His Last,” a ghost follows the protagonist around the house calling her a whore, but he’s unbothered. In “Casper,” three girls begin to take care of a strange white taxidermied rabbit they find for the Depot; their friendship hinges on the events that come next. Mothers struggle and flounder, but the women in these stories find a bitter, angry strength in their own destruction, a rebellion all of its own. Some of the stories felt too brief, or cut off abruptly, or were a little too indulgent, but it’s clear that Kirby is a devastating emerging voice playing with the way women are seen and treated in the world, ready to spin out satiric and ironic tales that are weighted painfully with truth. 

I found the defining story of the collection was “A Few Normal Things That Happen a Lot,” a surreal story in which women become rough, sharp, monsters who can protect themselves from the predation of men and the patriarchy, but they wish they had never had to, sadness and pain comes with their evolutions. The women in these stories find a bitter, angry strength in their own destruction, rebelling by finding sharp edges and core indestructible power in their own bones, reclaiming their bodies for their own. It is a coherent and fiery collection that makes me excited about what Kirby will have for us next. 

 I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Content warnings for homophobic language, rape, sex shaming, sexual harassment and abuse, revenge porn, animal cruelty.