About The Dime is one of the stories in All This Heavenly Glory published by Little, Brown & Company with no apparent regard for the current state of affairs in publishing. This is about the writing and Elizabeth Crane can buckle your knees faster than a Randy Johnson slider. Charlotte Anne Byers, aged nine and a half, sets off from LaGuardia to Grand Rapids, Iowa, a journey from mom’s house in Manhattan to dad’s in the midwest. In an act of motherly precaution a dime has been sewed into the lining of Charlotte Anne’s Samsonite; it’s for emergencies, for that phone call or as the author puts it:
About this dime: this is not any kind of factory mishap or practical joke by humorously minded Samsonite workers. The dime has been placed there by Charlotte Anne’s mother. Much is made of the dime in the weeks before C.A.’s departure. “It’s for the phone call” her mother had said. “In case of emergency.
Charlotte Anne is only slightly aware of her new role as political football. She takes her trip to Iowa in stride, in fact, she enjoys meeting her new half-siblings and discovering the liberties allowed in her father’s household. Coincidence of names of spouses throws her briefly, but CA is a trouper. After a month in Iowa, she returns home. Her mother informs that she’s gained weight while CA muses that she’d liked to be told that she was missed.
All This Heavenly Glory is a novel written by conjoining short stories linked by the main character. From time to time I’ll pick up the book and tell you about one of the stories. Eventually, you’ll just go buy the book if only to prevent me from tormenting all of you. If Elizabeth Crane’s work could be compared to say, Fenway Park, your reporter is the guy in the Bosox cap throwing beer at Gary Sheffield.
Wow dude, thanks for the sweet vote of confidence!
Wow dude, thanks for the sweet vote of confidence!