MONARCH: Stories

A book review.

MONARCH: Stories is a stunning debut short story collection. NetGalley provided me with an advanced reader copy, and the book comes out May 17th, 2024 from Black Lawrence Press. I hope this book finds the success it deserves, for it is such a beauty.

I got hooked from the first short story.

The collection centers around the lives of characters, mostly women, who have pasts that haunt them, romantic relationships they mostly have no interest in being in or want to flee from, and complicated relationships with their parents, heavily featuring mothers. Some flee from their past into an uncertain present and some stay and wonder what’s out there. The stories discuss themes of love, obsession, loneliness, addiction, sexual assault, child abuse, mental illness, and absence that feels very much like presence.

The identities of the characters shape the stories. Their journeys of self-discovery are relatable; I deeply sensed their wants and desires. Their dreams for a better future usually include fleeing from a certain situation, like it’s the be-all and end-all. I found myself getting sucked into the characters’ lives and caring about them. I love how the author uses symbolism in each story: For example, in one of my favorite stories, “Vida”, a ring symbolizes a bond that extends from the afterlife into Wiley’s life and in the way she cares about Vida. It symbolizes kindness, love, and deep compassion; a desire to belong and connect; a subtle obsession.

Some of the main characters show an obsession with other minor characters in the collection, and I loved how the writer wrote about these relationships. The obsession marks a stark difference between how these characters approach women, and how they approach the men in their lives. The men are portrayed as if they are a blip in the lives and history of some of these women. Like a major mistake that isn’t directly called that. The women figures seem like tender, loving saviors; the men seem like they’re mostly of no consequence, as if they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. In “Jesus Wears Bermudas” (cool name, I know!), the men in the character’s life go unnamed until she connects with a kindred soul. Someone whose presence doesn’t make her feel empty. But the stories with men as characters seem to have made mistakes about the women they are with, too, whether out of the fact that that is their perception or because these women abuse them.

Parents and their influence is also a major theme in the collection. Throughout the stories, parents are incredibly significant; the characters’ lives are forever changed because of how their parents affect their lives. Mothers, especially, have this hold over their daughters, as if nothing could make their daughters slip out of their grips. Fathers, too, but I was especially struck by how mothers are written in the stories.

The writing style is dreamy, even in portraying incredibly painful and traumatizing life events. It is tender in its portrayal of the characters. Their brokenness is celebrated through the writing.

I greatly enjoyed this collection, and I hope to read more Emily Jon Tobias. Some stories will stay with me for a long time.