A Partial List of The Saved - A Short Story by Danielle McLaughlin - Winner of The 2019 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award

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A Partial List of The Saved - A Short Story by Danielle McLaughlin - Winner of The 2019 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award

I have been following the work of Danielle McLuaghlin since March of 2012.  I have posted on her stories seven times, including two stories in The New Yorker.  I loved her debut collection, Dinosuars on Other Planets.  Ethel Rohan contributed a post on one of her stories and McLaughlin kindly participated in a far ranging Q and A Session. Since March, 2012 she has received numerous awards and literary grants in recognition of her talent.  

I was very happy to learn that another of her stories was now readable online, “A Partial List of The Saved” which is the Winner of The 2019 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, the world’s richest short story prize.

My main purpose here is to let Blog readers know that this story is readable online and to keep a record of my reading.  

As the story opens Conner and his ex-wife Reece are on a plane, heading from San Francisco to Ireland.

They  divorced because Reece had an affair with a coworker.  His eighty year old father is fading fast.  His sister Joanna and a helper take care of him.  Joanna wants them there for the father's birthday party.  The father loved Reece and no one has told him they are divorced.

The story shows us the various expectations each person has concerning the others in the family.  In this closely observed family drama all have their errors, insights, and revelations.

I enjoyed the family visit to the Titanic Exhibit in Belfast.

Danielle McLaughlin’s short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Stinging Fly, the Irish Times, and elsewhere. They have also been broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4. Her debut collection of short stories, Dinosaurs On Other Planets, was published in Ireland in 2015 by The Stinging Fly Press, in the UK and US in 2016 by John Murray and Random House. Her awards for short fiction include the William Trevor/Elizabeth Bowen International Short Story Competition, The Willesden Herald International Short Story Prize, The Merriman Short Story Competition in memory of Maeve Binchy, and the Dromineer Literary Festival Short Story Competition. Her debut novel A Retrospective will be published in 2020.

I looked forward to following the work of Danielle McLaughlin for years.

Mel u