Old Romantics by Maggie Armstrong

Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann

While some of the stories in this first short-story collection by Irish writer Maggie Armstrong are written in the first person, others in the third person, it soon becomes apparent that the stories are related and are moving forward in time. As such, Old Romantics reads much like a novel.

The main character in each story is a woman named Margaret who is bouncing from one unsatisfactory love affair to another. The men are abusive or unreliable, and the only reason Margaret stays with them is her need for sex. The sexual satisfaction she receives appears to be, at least temporarily, compensation for the defects in each relationship. Yet inevitably they come to an end, and Armstrong’s crisp writing effectively portrays the emotional toil of the often wrenching process of falling in and out of love.

The stories follow Margaret from her mid-twenties to her late thirties, her needs maturing from mere physical desire into a deeper longing: for stability and a family. As the stories progress, Armstrong explores, notably without being overly analytic, the various facets of love, from the hormone-driven lust of the young to the more nurturing love of a mother. Parental love and loss are also explored through other characters, lightly but tenderly.

But Armstrong does not ease Margaret into a welcoming comfort zone as time goes by. Rather, Margaret’s intimate relationships continue to be dysfunctional in one way or another. And Armstrong offers no tidy solutions. Margaret herself is no paragon. She chooses men badly and is imperfect in other ways. Her attention can wander, as a series of minor car accidents illustrates. She gets frustrated with the antics of small children. Minor things can upset her. She is often on edge.

What Armstrong does well is to show Margaret’s inner turmoil and misgivings in a way that reflects the biting anxiety that such an emotional state can create.

It is fair to ask, especially given the use of the name Margaret and the fact that Margaret is also a struggling writer: Is Armstrong writing about herself? It doesn’t matter, but much of the poignancy that comes across touches so deeply that it seems likely to have come from personal experience. That Armstrong can convey these difficult emotions so well is a testament to her abilities as a writer. An impressive debut!

Old Romantics is published by Tramp Press.