Book Review: "The Office of Historical Corrections" by Danielle Evans
Danielle Evans, author of story collection Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, released another outstanding short story collection in November 2020 that poignantly collides with America’s current political and racial landscape. In six short stories and the titular novella, Evans portrays memorable heroines who are struggling to find their place in the world in the aftermath of grief. Evans’ writing is simultaneously piercing, darkly funny, and deeply thoughtful, making this collection a must-read. Examining overarching themes of racism, sexism, family and belonging, the justice of truth and legacy, and America’s shapeshifting history, these stories reveal the need for not only more accountability, but also more humanity.
Through seven vivid, distinct stories, the collection offers a wide range of perspectives from which to view Evans’ raw and quietly heartbreaking insights. In “Happily Ever After,” a young Black woman working at a gift shop in a Titanic-themed museum reflects on her mother’s dying of cancer and her fight for her mother to receive the same medical treatment as a white woman would. In “Alcatraz”, the narrator’s mother attempts to reverse the inaccurate legacy of her great-grandfather, a Black man who was wrongfully imprisoned and never pardoned. “Boys Go To Jupiter” is told from the perspective of a white college student who feels alienated after her father’s remarriage and becomes the center of a national controversy for her use of the Confederate flag on her campus. At every turn, Evans explores questions of passivity and underscores the everyday weights of racism from perspectives that white readers such as myself may never have considered.
What makes Evans such a powerful writer is her ability to unearth deep truths about life in such simple terms. In “Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain,” a gutsy photojournalist who travels all over the world ironically reflects on the fact that her sister’s white husband shot her in a fit of jealousy: “All of her adult life people have asked Rena why she goes to such dangerous places, and she has always wanted to ask them where the safe place is.” Our prejudices about what and who are considered “safe” and what qualifies as dangerous are challenged. In the titular novella, Evans discusses the unspoken privilege that accompanies white people’s fondness for past eras: “I distrusted, in general, appeals to nostalgia - I loved the past of archives, but there was no era of the past I had any inclination to visit with my actual human body, being rather fond of it having at least minimal rights and protections.”
The stunning novella brings the underlying themes of the collection to a crescendo. Set in an adjacent American reality, the story follows Cassie, a young Black woman working for a government organization called the Institute for Public History that timidly attempts to correct misinformation about American history. When Genevieve, Cassie’s childhood frenemy who also works for the organization, begins making more forceful corrections to racist, incomplete accounts of history, Cassie must choose between prioritizing her job, her relationships, her personal beliefs, and above all, the truth. In a timely story about courage, misinformation and systemic racism, Evans reveals the price of passivity in society today and the urgent need for collective reform and reckoning.
While extremely relevant today, The Office of Historical Corrections is an excellent short story collection that will stand the test of time due to Evans’ mastery of the craft. While her unique voice, pacing, and wit make these stories shine, what I loved most about the collection was how much it made me take a step back and think. If you are in search of a thought-provoking, punchy literary masterpiece to add to your shelf, look no further than this collection.
Allison Boyce is from Arizona and now lives in Dallas, TX. She loves to write about fiction, movies, books, and music in her spare time. When she's not working, she loves to get outdoors to run or hike.
