A woman visits the baby she gave up, now a middle-aged man, and is surprised at his art.
This is the first story in Sinead Gleeson’s “The Art of the Glimpse” anthology, about which I’ve heard nothing but praise: 100 Irish short stories, organized alphabetically (rather than thematically, chronologically, or by any but the most arbitrary of methods – I expect it to result in some interesting unintended juxtapositions). It’s a tight little gem of a story, with some artfully dangling loose ends (like the encounter with the old woman waiting for “Rosie”) and some striking images. And it’s a good selection for an anthology dedicated to “the glimpse” – most things in this story are seen at an odd angle or at the remove of decades, and many important things are left tantalizingly out of focus.