A collection of short stories about women who seem to be very unsure of themselves and are people pleasers. Not very enjoyable read for me. Would like to give it two and a half stars

I really enjoyed this smart, sophisticated story collection. The women in A BLIND CORNER are outsiders struggling to find their place, especially given societal constraints. The reader sympathizes with them and the author is never preachy or condescending. I found the writing to be quite elegant and relatable. Many of these stories will stick with me. Recommended for fans of literary fiction. I look forward to digging into Macy's backlist titles.

Review: The Blind Corner
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐲
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟐𝟏 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟐
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 (𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞) 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦'𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞.
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Each story is beautifully written, with biting wit and sage wisdom. The stories are as unique as the women portrayed in them, yet there is a common thread of angst and inner turmoil which is born from a place of desperation - to fit in/belong/claim a seat at the table in the desired social circle. While incredibly fascinating from a psychological standpoint, it was painful, at times, to read of their discomfiture. Nevertheless, it is a beautifully written book of short stories which I’m glad I had the opportunity to read.
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Thank you NetGalley, Caitlin Macy, and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest and wholly independent opinion reflected in this review.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭- 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
The characters populating these stories are outsiders, even if they are a teenage girl gifted with intelligence on the cusp of a bright future or a mother who travels to Acapulco with her small children sans her elite friend, who cancels plans a week before their trip. Everyone is attempting to become something separate from themselves. In Nude House, Susanna, bright and biddable all her life, takes up with trouble when she starts fooling around with Andy, the town screwup. Maybe she just wanted a story to carry her through her days, but his problems are beyond his control. Blind Corner, tourists Alison and Tim Spalding are under Tuscany’s spell, imagining a life where their future children can thrive, in Italy. It isn’t long before Alison’s moral character is in direct conflict with the locals’ ways and then she has a little accident. Foreign places never seem to live up to the ideal, do they? Residents Only, a woman feels overwhelmed on a trip to Acapulco without her self-assured friend, Vero. She makes impulsive choices when leaving the safety of the condo she is staying at. Maybe it’s because she is at the end of her rope? She spends much of their vacation feeling inept, and naturally there are class issues between she and the maid.

The Taker, a woman wants to prove herself to be a good host, welcoming her friend’s ex-boyfriend Marcus, a stranger to she and her husband, for an eleven day stay. For once, she wants to be the accommodating sort, completely out of character to her true, private nature. Her husband and Marcus hit it off, like true bros, and suddenly she feels like the third wheel. How long will his welcome last? We Don’t Believe in That Crap: Two little girls, the “fresh start family” in their retired, older, military father’s second marriage get a taste of the way some people live with their mother’s visit to Ma Moore. Ma, the keeper of all sorts of strays, humans and animals, connected to their kind mother, Linda. When Linda asks Ma’s daughter, Tammy Moore, to babysit, the night goes awry. The Little Rats: Hannah isn’t sure why she accepted a meeting with the junior development officer of her old private school (she was on scholarship), Country Day. It takes her back to the “Hallmark Experience”, the trip to France, which her parents had secured (at the last minute) money for, and her fears of being matched with a ‘bottom of the barrel’ French girl. How much have times changed it the current politically current climate? It becomes a reminder of where she came from, despite her accomplishments.

The stories in this collection are clever, nothing explosive needs to happen. It is about class, entitlement, but not everyone is about being ‘one of us’. Characters are often well aware of how they appear to others, even if at times they are clueless to their snobbery. Women struggling with self-doubt, making rash decisions, so basically a lot like real life for many of us. It’s a genuine experience, sitting with their thoughts and weighing their actions. Yes, a good read.

Publication Date: June 21, 2022

Little, Brown and Company

This one did not keep my interest at all. It just never hooked me and I honestly did not finish it. I’m sure some people will love it but it was not for me.

A Blind Corner
by Caitlin Macy
In an era of “hot takes” and easy generalizations, this collection reclaims the absurdities and paradoxes of life as it is actually lived from the American fantasy of “niceness”. In Macy’s world, human desires and fatal blind spots slam headlong into convenient, social-media-driven narratives that would sort us into neat boxes of insider or outsider; good or bad; with us or against us.

Time and again, whether at home or in the age-old role of Americans abroad, Macy’s women see their good intentions turn awry. A woman who tries to do a good deed for an underprivileged child sees it go horribly wrong. A wife, attempting to be a good host to a friend’s strange ex-boyfriend, finds herself in a compromised situation. And, in the title story, a newlywed fancies herself a Euro-sophisticate until an accident reminds her just how truly foreign she really is.

In tales where shocking and sometimes brutal events disabuse characters of their most cherished beliefs, Macy forgoes easy moralization in favor of uncomfortable truths that reveal the complexity of what it means to be human.


Some very good short stories. A book of women at their best, or trying their best, The human in us cheer, shed a tear, and feel for these stories. I loved all. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Little, Brown and Company for the chance to read and review in advance of publication.