She’s ex-military, a divorcee, middle-aged. She visits hypnotherapists. She’s vegan. She’s a liberal. She goes on retreats. She keeps herself fit. She moved in with Henry who she met on Facebook. They had a lot of mutual athletic friends. That was years ago. Most of the time they get on fine. “I buy his groceries,” she says, “We wake up. We love each other. We watch movies. We drink coffee. We fuck. I get on his nerves sometimes.” Sometimes they break up. Sometimes Henry kicks her out. They get back together. She moves back in. This time she thinks that Henry might be looking for somebody new on the social media running app they both use. She thinks the next time they argue might be the last. And then she has moved out again. And this time it is for good.
Kim Chinquee’s PIPETTE is the story of a few months in the life of an early 50s woman told in snapshots. Short chapters, some no more than a few lines long, each given a title. Some descriptive. Some more abstract. Reading Glasses. Hide Under The Bed. More Like A Meander. Each chapter reads like a very short story. Then the stories build on each other. It’s a narrative stitched from urgent paragraphs of flash fiction, the protagonist gradually revealing herself. The disturbing incidents of her past and the dashed or fragile hopes for her future. The stoicism in the face of actions outside of her control. There’s truth embedded within the words. An unflinching honesty that can catch the reader by surprise. And though much of PIPETTE is seemingly full of good humor and casual wit there seems to be a shadow of sadness cast over the protagonist.
Chinquee’s novella is a bold exercise in form–urgent and experimental yet easy to understand and eminently enjoyable. There is a simplicity to her prose, much of it is pared back and precise. It takes some skill to write so sparingly and requires a self-confidence born from experience and commitment to the craft of writing. Chinquee is a clever writer who is always in control of her material. It’s no surprise that her previous work has been nominated for numerous prizes and published in a variety of well- respected literary journals.
Kim Chinquee’s PIPETTE is an inventive and intelligent novella with writing so spare and carefully considered that not a word is wasted. A gem of a book.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader