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All of the stories in Molly Giles's second collection of short stories, Creek Walk are united by a common theme: the struggle of women to become visible in a world of men. In "The Writers' Model," the narrator sits in a room full of male writers revealing the most intimate details of her life in hopes that the men will one day translate them into fully rounded women on the page; in the end, of course, they don't. In "War" the main character is so alienated from her ex-husband that she does not even name him, referring to him only as "he." In the collection's most harrowing story, "Talking to Strangers," the narrator is literally invisible: brutally murdered and mutilated by a young man on a mountaintop, she speaks from the grave. Molly Giles is a skillful writer and the women in Creek Walk leap off the page fully dimensional, their faults and virtues observed and interpreted. The men, however, are mostly ciphers: at best, unconsciously oblivious to the women in their lives, at worst willfully misunderstanding them. Still, Ms. Giles's elegant prose and memorable women make this collection a worthwhile read.
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