It’s not often I finish a short story and wish it had been a novel; generally speaking, I much prefer short fiction. I am awed by the multiple tiny worlds you find in short story collections, and I admire the ability of an author to pull us maybe 20, 30, or 40 pages into that world, then wrap it up, tear it down, and build a new one from scratch. It stands in marked contrast to, say, those multi-volume or “continuing character” series of novels many bestselling writers churn out, which to me speaks of nothing but authorial laziness or a lack of talent. It’s a lot easier to go back and keep telling stories of well-worn and familiar characters and settings, after all.
And yet, Laura van den Berg’s “Lizards” (included in her 2020 collection I Hold a Wolf By the Ears) was one of those rare exceptions. I felt she was barely scratching the surface of this story’s potential, which radiates something of a “Floridian Stepford Wives” vibe.
This isn’t to say it’s not a good tale as is. The plot, as mentioned, eerily resembles The Stepford Wives. An unnamed couple, motivated by the husband’s new job, relocates to Florida. The husband is promptly laid off, “before they even had a chance to furnish their apartment,” and the wife works a morale-draining job with a hellish commute to support them. In the background are allusions to (I’m presuming from contextual clues) the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court, and the wife’s now-vocal unease with her husband’s fraternity past in college. Additionally, the wife has fears and concerns about the rape-y culture of masculine institutions like frats in general, and doesn’t hesitate to voice them. Oddly, there’s a passage where she asks the husband a “did you ever?” type of question which isn’t explicitly revealed/stated, for reasons that are unclear (to me, at least). I’m not sure why van den Berg leaves this so oblique, but what is clear is that the husband is left deeply unnerved and angry by the conversation in general.
Enter a neighbor who gives the husband a supply of some kind of “artisanal” seltzer that will get the wife to chill out. I won’t reveal any more of the plot, since the story is so compact, except to say that the beverage that looks like an “off-brand LaCroix” seems to make living in Florida much more alluring to the wife. The lizards (yes, remember, the story is titled “Lizards”) that occasionally invade the apartment don’t bother her anymore. And wow, did they bother her at first.
There’s more to it. You should acquire a copy of I Hold a Wolf By the Ears and read it yourself. And the other stories. They’re all good. But “Lizards” . . . man, it shoulda been a novel.
