The Merlin Subsidiary: Stories & Poems

Ballroom dancing is the motif of "The Merlin Subsidiary," a novella that portrays the lives and relationships of five women. They meet at a dance studio and form a social group that they call a "subsidiary." They are all single, either widowed or divorced, and range in age from 43 to 58. Each has an individual story of how they came to dance. Their relationships are like a group of sisters who regard each other with affection but also have rivalries and frictions from personality differences. There are surprises and crises. Other short stories in this collection depict a grandmother who becomes a schoolyard vigilante; a former district attorney who, in a sense, also becomes a vigilante when he investigates the murder of a family member; two middle-aged, closeted Lesbian librarians dealing with a personal crisis; a young woman conflicted about her father's remarriage after the death of her mother; an older woman adjusting to living with her daughter and son-in-law after heart surgery; and 'the dullest man in the world'—an eccentric country man—as described by a young woman with whom her family has close ties. Many of the poems are quite personal about grief and autism. Others are lighter on subjects such as dancing and napping at the public library. Barbara Kussow's stories usually feature people who are middle or late age, demographic groups that she finds interesting and feels are too often ignored in fiction.