Sara Power (Curtis Perry)

In her debut short story collection, Art of Camouflage, Sara Power explores what it means for women and girls to be at their lowest point, and how they can emerge from such depths. Through subtle and effective storytelling, she illustrates how, even when surrounded by others, women can feel completely alone. You don’t need to have been a military wife moving from place to place to know the experiences of Power’s characters – she skilfully draws you into understanding the characters and their lives. 

Power expertly demonstrates what it means to craft a short story, and to curate a short fiction collection. There are through-lines to the collection, yet each story is unique. Every piece has a focal point, whether that is Kijiji or a vibrator, and Power uses this focus to create a window into a character’s world. Particularly striking is Power’s use of varied and experimental narrative forms. “Roe v. Caviar,” for example, takes the form of 10 house rules taped to the door by a 13-year-old girl. “Pangea Fragmented” is told from the perspective of a narrator dissociating from herself, and Power conveys that mental process and feeling to the reader through the detached narrative voice of “the mother,” which is interspersed with the mother’s lessons from therapy. 

One of the most memorable stories, “Christmas Card for the Win,” takes place entirely during a car ride. Here the narrative is periodically punctuated by the narrator’s Spanish Duolingo lessons. The relationship between the characters is clearly, even humorously, illustrated through such moments as when Linda, the narrator, thinks of an exchange with her husband: “Look at this, hon, Duolingo is asking me why I feel sad. And Gilles would say, hmm, capping the conversation. Utter killjoy.” In these moments, funny in their absurdity, Power homes in on the deep sadness and loneliness of so many of her characters. 

Some stories verge on the speculative, which is refreshing to see in literary fiction. In “About Face,” facial masks transform people into animals, and in “G-Loc,” compasses give people special powers. Not all the stories contain speculative elements, but Power leaves the reader with the sense that at any moment the narrative could turn magical, and keeps you alert to her every purposeful word. 

In “Gwen the Castle,” Power highlights the reality of stalking for women, in a story set at Toronto Island’s Artscape Gibraltar Point. Whether it is a character mistaking a white blouse hanging from a tree for a person, or another stating that, “we can’t do anything unless there is an act of aggression,” Power conveys the depth of fear and mistrust a woman lives with as she tries to complete her artist residency. 

All the women in Art of Camouflage seek connection. In these character-driven tales, Power presents worlds of isolation that nevertheless make you feel as though you are not alone. Once started, this collection is impossible to put down.