Jody Lisberger

            The three stories we read by Jody Lisberger have a common theme amongst them: suspense. Each story left the reader asking questions from the very beginning, and even as the stories progressed the questions either weren’t answered or were given very vague answers. I had trouble appreciating these stories, however, because the use of suspense left me more confused than “on the edge of my seat” which I think may have been the objective of the author.

            In the first story, Crucible, I had read The Crucible in high school at a similar age as the protagonist’s daughter, so I had a good idea of what it was about. Eventually I got the idea that Sheila was also having an affair, and she must have felt very guilty because of the character her daughter was portraying in the play was, in some ways, similar to her. The idea of this scared her and was a useful device in delaying the answers that the reader desperately craved, a key plot device needed in a suspenseful story. I was still left confused about how the protagonist planned to proceed with her husband; she didn’t appear to have a definite plan.

            In the second story, Bush Beating, the title was very fitting for the actions of the main character Philip, but also fit the theme of suspense. It was again very difficult to tell exactly what happened in the story; even when Philip revealed his recollection of the events he left out important details that the reader should probably know. Telling the story from the perspective of a mother questioning her adolescent son helped Lisberger in developing suspense for the story; it is only natural that a 13-year-old kid wouldn’t want to tell her mom all sorts of things, especially when it involves sex and potential rape. I had difficulty understanding whether or not the “sex” (if we could even call it that. I felt a little bad for Philip) was consensual, although it certainly sounds like it was forced by the way Megan ran away screaming and cursing at the boys. Philip sounds like a boy who has a lot of growing up to do, but exactly what happened that day will forever be a mystery.

            In the final story, In the Mercy of Water, the protagonist takes her sweet time in revealing her sexuality to the reader which is really an important part of the story, and even when it is revealed it is not said so in a direct way; the reader must infer it on their own. Annabel was a character whose sole purpose is to be suspenseful. Actually she is quite a tease; she knows Billy is interested in her and in some ways leads him on. But this is more so a tease to Kate, who feels that there is a serious connection between the two of them. Eventually, or so I think, Kate gets the happy ending with Annabel that she desires, but the character than Annabel is tells me that she is her own person and would have no trouble ditching Kate if something or someone better came up.