TO READ THE STORY https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/ghosts-and-empties
This month’s story, ‘Ghosts And Empties’ by Lauren Groff, is a complex character study with lots of smaller character studies refracted through the eyes of the main character. As our heroine walks her neighbourhood in the evenings, we, as readers, get a tapestry of glimpses into many different lives. As always, you will get the most out of this masterclass if you read the story for yourself: www. newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/ghosts-and-empties
Our protagonist explains that she walks the streets at night in order to prevent herself from yelling at her family. As we learn more about her, we also learn more about the people she observes on her travels. In the course of the story, the little glimpses of other people’s lives gradually turn into potted histories, many of them extremely poignant.
Some of the observations are made through the windows of houses. Notice how they are described as being like domestic aquariums.
A fat fifteen-year-old runs on a
