cover image We Five

We Five

Mark Dunn. Dzanc, $24.95 (380p) ISBN 978-1-938103-12-4

Dunn (American Decameron) cobbles together five versions of the same tale of female friendship, each of which is an homage to a fictional work from real-life novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. The first section is Dunn's invented Elizabeth Gaskell novel; the remaining four stories are set in 1906 San Francisco, a Midwestern town in 1923, 1940 London, and%E2%80%94the only section that Dunn, tongue-in-cheek, acknowledges as his own%E2%80%941997 Mississippi. In each story, five friends (several of whom have familiar Gaskell names) find work, navigate family drama, and consider courtship with five disreputable fellows. Remarkably, Dunn crafts a coherent single plot while cycling through the five narratives; chapters flow seamlessly despite time jumps. The overall story arc, melodramatic in places, culminates in multiple deaths and natural disasters. Spry dialogue attests to Dunn's skill as a playwright, while period vocabulary creates authentic settings. Though one might question the point of all this stylistic pastiche, Dunn pulls off the ambitious conceit with many lively voices and characters. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Oct.)