photo by Jhonny Rojo
Valerie Trueblood is the author of the novel Seven Loves (Little Brown, 2006) and the short story collection Marry or Burn (Counterpoint, 2010) which was shortlisted for the 2011 Frank O’Connor Award.
Her stories have appeared in various publications including One Story, The Northwest Review, and the online journal Narrative.
‘The Llamas’ is from her forthcoming book, Search Party, due to be published by Counterpoint in 2013.
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Valerie Trueblood, photo by Lucien Knuteson
The Llamas
Ann told her friends she was nowhere. What was ahead? She didn’t love her boyfriend. He accused her of not liking him but he thought the love part could survive that. He didn’t like her, either, even though they maintained a truce over their differing views of the world. Ann’s had always been that the world was treacherous where it wasn’t cruel, even though many advantages surrounded and secured her, including a job several rungs above his in the same company, whereas his was that the world didn’t matter if you were having a good time.
Read
The Llamas
© Valerie Trueblood
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With many thanks to Valerie Trueblood and Counterpoint
for their kind permission to print this story.
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Read Nuala Ní Conchúir‘s
We Recommend: Valerie Trueblood’s Marry or Burn
