da Tanka is so odd as to prove-for me-slightly distracting, an additional bit of weirdness compounding the general disorientation. There are probably also two minor extrinsic reasons for this: one, the mid-century British divorce laws being negotiated in this story are alien and arcane, difficult to intuit. For a fairly short story, it’s difficult to figure out what’s going on. Given the agitated hostility between the principals, the disorientation of the story is arguably intentional, a case of form following function, but the reading experience still suffers. Mileson’s somewhat dislocated thoughts about his family home, the lease of which he recently let expire as a bachelor with no children. The proceedings are additionally clouded by Mr. da Tankas’s consciousnesses-a technique Trevor often employs, but in this story, with a nervy unsettled quality like a butterfly refusing to land. The narrative flits back and forth between Mr.

Trevor, in many ways, seems to have appeared on the literary scene fully formed, but this feels like an early effort, clunky for a writer known signally for his lack of clunk. I had a strong suspicion, reading “A Meeting in Middle Age,” that in the past, I’d never made it all the way through the story, perhaps jumping ship after the first page or two. They travel by train, get a hotel, get drunk and eat dinner, are rude to their waiter, have a long and horrible and insulting fight, and part ways after the return train.

da Tanka’s lover, so as to expedite an embarrassment-free divorce from her wealthy and influential husband. Mileson has been hired by her solicitor to pretend to be Mrs. It becomes clear as the story progresses, that Mr. They tritely say that all journeys begin with a single step, and so we begin this journey through William Trevor’s The Collected Stories with “A Meeting in Middle Age.” Summary: as the title would suggest, a middle-aged man, Mr.

The Collected Stories by William Trevor