Tightly wound novella about queer teen’s desire
“Cecilia” By K-Ming Chang Coffee House Press
K-Ming Chang’s taut novella “Cecilia” explores the intensity of desire by slinking along the razor-thin line between love and obsession, between the desire to cuddle someone or consume them.
Life for 24-year-old Seven appears relatively staid. She lives with her mother and grandmother in the same apartment that the women have rented since before she was born, and works for a chiropractor, cleaning the office and prepping rooms between adjustments. Then she finds Cecilia in one of the exam rooms.
The two childhood friends haven’t seen each other for 10 years, but Seven leaves abruptly without uttering a word. When she gets off work the next day, Cecilia is waiting for her at the bus stop. As the two ride toward a transformative conclusion at the literal end of the line, Seven teases out the course of their past relationship, the reasons it ended and how she has tried to evolve ever since.
While plenty of art has been devoted to the pressures of adolescent friendships and the difficulties of growing up in general, “Cecilia” is refreshing in many ways, starting with its exploration of queer desire, which, while not as much of a rarity as it once was, is still woefully underrepresented.
Chang also eschews tired motivators like popularity and academic achievement in favor of more psychological uncertainties: Is this really what I want? How badly do I want it? How will I (over)react if I don’t get it? And “Cecilia” obliquely questions consent by juxtaposing predators and prey and considering the individuation of memory. (TNS)