The Displaced Nation

A fly-on-the-wall observer of our household would see nothing wrong. They’d see a family who has time-travelled from the 1950s. A young wife at home with a preschooler and two babies; a granny who hovers solicitously around her daughter and oldest grandchild; a husband who is polite and calm and doesn’t shout. A large dog [...]

Maggie opened her front door, and I handed her a screwdriver set. “Oliver said you needed this urgently,” I said. “He says there should be one in there that fits, but let him know if there isn’t.” I tried not to sound irritable, but really — did Maggie require this so urgently that I had [...]

My mother is inexhaustible. She looked so old when she arrived here a week ago, but not any more. She has a new lease of life. Unsurprising, really – she’s taken all my energy instead and become a life-sucking parasite who thrives on attention and entertainment. It’s the first time I’ve met this version of [...]

Can’t stop thinking about the awful story of Maggie’s daughter and Anna’s dead brother-in-law. I see why Anna told me — festering half-truths ruined Sara’s life, by all accounts — but I still haven’t figured out what to do about Oliver’s half-sister, Tania, whom I impulsively contacted and now wish I hadn’t. Although the simplest [...]

LOST: One sense of coordination. Last seen, fleetingly, Monday at 9am while driving on highway. Disappeared entirely at 9:05am at red traffic light, which I acknowledged to be a nice crimson colour but otherwise ignored and sailed straight through to the other side of the crossroads. Screeching and honking noises from other cars, and loud, [...]

“Four days. That’s all. I’ll be back before you know it.” Oliver drags his black leather carry-on down the garden path and onto the driveway, unlocks the doors of the rented Ford Taurus, and heaves the case into the boot. Carefully, I lumber after him, even though we’ve already said our goodbyes in the house. [...]

With just weeks to go before the arrival of the twins, Libby is making the most of her life with only one child by finding him a new nursery school and thereby becoming a Lady Who Lunches. But it’s not all Fun, Fun, Fun, she is finding. “Libby, do stop worrying. Jack will be just [...]