We Had No Rules
An ultimate tenet of writing literature is to strive for characters that comprise an unflinching honesty about themselves and the world. As Albert Camus said, Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. Corinne Manning’s short stories in, We Had No Rules takes this tenet and runs with it. These are stories full of life’s complexities and the interior worlds of those who ask themselves messy questions and struggle with multifaceted and yet natural desires.
The collection’s title weaves its self through the stories. In the title story, a young woman runs away from her parent’s home where the assumed but un-communicated rules seem untenable to her. She finds herself in a new environment just as unfamiliar and lawless but in a way filled with all the thrills and dangers of freedom. In Chewbacca and Clyde a couple who never established rules for their relationship navigate a perceived infidelity.
“The rules of heterosexuality draped over us like a shroud, and in the dark, everything happened quickly: splitting our bank account, giving notice to our landlord. She changed her relationship status on Facebook to single and we started getting wall posts and phone calls. We were still living in the same house when she unfriended me.”
Although these stories deal with relationships, getting into or out of them, family dynamics, and sexuality they are never dark. They are written with a clear mind, shining a bright light on the intricacy of life. Many of the characters are on the cusp of massive change as in Ninety Days where a woman leaves her partner to transition genders. Or characters who are tentatively grappling with their sexuality and the rules that may or may not apply to these new social dynamics. These stories are written with skill and a mature steadiness that I hope to see evolve into a longer work one day.
