Review of Collected Novellas by S. B. Borgersen

S.B. Borgersen’s Collected Novellas provides an intriguing look at family dynamics. What makes a family? And how does one’s upbringing influence the adult they become? These are questions that Borgersen lovingly explores in her three novellas: “Passport to Perdita,” “Eva Matson,” and “Fisherman’s Fingers.”

In “Passport to Perdita” we meet Gordon Drummond who is an older middle-aged man who has recently buried his father. He grew up in Nova Scotia where he was raised by his mother. His father was absent most of his childhood, living in South America where his wife and son believed he was employed. He returned on the eve of his wife’s death and Gordon, now a grown man, transitioned from living with his mother to residing with his father. Upon his father’s death, Gordon makes a startling discovery about his father’s business which prompts him to leave Canada for the first time in his life. 

“Eva Matson” begins, “Eva came to me in a brown paper parcel,” which immediately draws the reader in. The story is based on a picture the author finds, an old newspaper clipping, compelling enough that the author desires to create a story that matches the photo. The story carries the reader through Eva’s life where we become well acquainted with her family, a family comprised of loving parents but a controlling grandmother. Raised as a daughter, but with many of the freedoms associated with boys, Eva grows up to be fiercely independent, with no qualms about exercising her own will.

The novella, Fishermen’s Fingers, explores a mother’s guilt after having abandoned her child, Lenny, following his birth. The reader meets Lenny in his adulthood and learns about his troubled life, a childhood in the system followed by a life of questionable morals. 

These stories take the reader on a fascinating journey through time and across the world to three continents. Borgersen indulges the reader with seaside towns, vivid in description, that transport the reader. Her characters are personal, walking off the pages so that we feel as if we are acquainted with them on a personal level. Each story is well developed, the depth of the problems well explored. I was particularly drawn to Eva Matson and Borgersen’s masterful play with gender roles and expectations. Eva Matson came of age in the early 1900, at a time when women had few freedoms. However, she was an only child, and as a result, her father raised her with the sensibilities of a boy. This permitted her to grow up to be self assured and confident, allowing her to have the life that she wished instead of one that might otherwise have been foisted on her.

I highly recommend this collection, especially for readers who enjoy historical fiction.