I read the first two stories of this book back in May and enjoyed them very much. You can read my review of those two here.
The third and fourth stories of The Secrets of a Fire King are equally good. I was particularly fascinated by “A Gleaming in the Darkness.”
“A Gleaming in the Darkness” is about two Maries. One is a cleaning woman for a university, and the other is the famous scientist, Marie Curie. (To avoid confusion, I’ll refer to the cleaning woman as Marie and the scientist as Curie.) While Marie cleans for and waits on Madame Curie, she is enthralled by Curie’s intelligence, will, stamina, and persistence. She defends her against her detractors and admires her work exceedingly. The story is told through flashbacks of Marie’s memories, while the aged Marie is in the hospital during World War II. Maybe you have to be a science geek like me to really appreciate this story, but I absolutely loved this one. I also loved the perspective of age looking back on youth.
They do not believe that their unlined skin, their smooth and agile limbs, will ever fall into such a state of disrepair as mine have done. They are sorry for my disabilities, my old age, my dying, and they pity me. They do not see I have no pity for myself. The young girls do not know it, and I cannot tell them, but I have discovered that past and present blur together, become one and the same, so that time means very little at the end.
“Balance” is about an aging couple, Marc and Francoise who perform a small circus-type show in the park at small cities. This one also deals with the loss of youth, but, unlike in the above story, the characters show great reluctance to the aging process. Once with perfect bodies, the tiniest decrease in abilities is perceived as a huge challenge for them, particularly because Francoise is a trapeze artist.
If I ever slipped…I could never do it again. I have to believe that it’s impossible for me to fall.
I really encourage you to pick up this book of stories by Kim Edwards. I’ve seen it at in the Bargain Books section of both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
