Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica AuMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love the way Jessica Au writes. It is soft and sacred, with observations and deviations and unsaid thoughts that all seem to fit together like drops of water. Nothing (or, almost nothing) feels out of place. Everything feels like it belongs, in perfect harmony. Towards the end, the past and the present start mingling and sometimes, for the briefest of moments, you will not be sure whether you are encountering memory or perception. It is never confusing, never tedious, it simply flows.
The story itself is structured simply with a complex set of layers on top. It discovers, as the pages turn, insights about the complicated relationships that define the narrator's life (and reflects, perhaps, everyone's). Never getting too emotional, the narrator clearly talks through what she is feeling and is unafraid to let us know when she is lost. If she does not know what she feels, she simply says that and then does her best to give us an inkling. This is refreshing, not something one sees very often but feels reminiscent of how actual thoughts and feelings work.
It is short, it is beautiful, and I enjoyed reading it.
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