https://medium.com/@chantal.walvoord
In ten stories, Vara describes the gamut of human
predicaments and their corresponding emotional states: grief,
isolation, obsession, shame, courage, and rage.
Each story exists in isolation,
but numerous stories mirror each other. Grief in
response to losing a sister is apparent in “Hormone Hypothesis” and
in “Eighteen Girls.” The unnamed character in “Hormone Hypothesis,” who
is unconsciously looking for a sister figure, finds Fernanda. Though this
stay-at-home mother is the narrator’s opposite, the two
bond and find strength in their shared grief.
A complementary story, “Eighteen
Girls,” features two sisters, one of whom is slowly dying of cancer.
The “eighteen girls” of the title are the same girl—the
healthy girl reacting to her sister’s forceful personality.
“The Irates” and “I, Buffalo”
deal self-hatred and shame. In “The Irates” a
teen finds the world irretrievably altered after
her much-loved brother dies. She works a job she detests—telemarketing—and
becomes a person she hates—an “irate.” Sheila, the main
character of “I, Buffalo” has lost her high-stakes
job after an embarrassing incident. Vara brilliantly
describes emotional states, especially isolation.
In “This is Salvaged,” a man
has the lonely experience of trying to build a replica of Noah’s
ark and in “Sibyls” a woman with a movie star’s name dies unnoticed.
This is Salvaged is a compelling short
story collection that visits aspects of the human condition with humor and
nuance.