Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories
by Adam-Troy Castro
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted August 2, 2023
Out of print, but at this time new or used copies are available from Bookshop or Amazon. A purchase through our links may earn us a commission.
I'm not sure what the author thinks about trigger warnings, content warnings, cautionary notes, whatever you want to call them. I feel I should point out several stories mention rape, even if in one case it is just a fantasy in the mind of one of the characters. Also child abuse and manipulation. I know from other Castro stories, as well as many Facebook posts, he is not the type to ever perform such vile deeds himself, but as an observer and reporter on the human condition, he has not shied away from articulating some of our more frequent evils.
I've forgotten how long it has been, but I bought this directly from the author several years ago. I did read a few of the stories shortly afterwards, one of which I had previously read online, then for some reason set it aside. I don't read as many story collections and anthologies as I should, and the same for the many online venues these days, mainly because of so many great novels being released. I plan on reading several of Adam-Troy's novels and longer fiction through the rest of the year, so thought it best to finish this and review it first. The situations that caused me to take longer to complete it should not be interpreted as a judgement on the worth of the stories. There are only eight stories, along with an introduction by David Gerrold, and and "Extro" by Castro, which consists of general comments on his approach to fiction, as well as notes on each story. Gerrold mentions something echoed in the author's inscription to me: "Don't read these all in one go!" With the exception of the longest, I did read each in one sitting, but with considerable time in between.
Anyone who reads the various speculative genres should know about the "suspension of disbelief." Very much needed for these stories. All are grim to one extent or another, several very horrific. They are not easily summarized without spoiling, so my comments will be brief. I have a few guesses as to the author's intentions, but without confidence that I'm right. Most start with a proposition, then extend that in ways for which the outcome is not easy to anticipate. First up is the one I had read before, "Arvies," a Nebula finalist in 2011. It is still available online at Lightspeed. For many years it was agreed that life began at birth; it's even in the Bible, when God breathed life into Adam. Now the fundamentalists declare life begins at conception, and the unborn must be protected. Stretch that concept to the point where the fetus has all the power, political and economic, and many of them want to keep it that way, to not be born at all, since in this world birth is in essence a death. Then flip that idea on its head, with one fetus deciding they want to experience giving birth themself, which means their 'host' has to be fitted with an extra uterus.
I'm not sure I've read anything as weird as the title story. The note at the end says it was rewritten several times, until the reason for the premise was injuries incurred during a war. Thus the author's intent may have changed during the rewriting, but as presented here it can be read as the plight of military families upon the return of their fallen loved ones. But technology steps in and sustains life in just a portion of the body retrieved. In this case, a woman's husband's hands have been fitted with a power source, including memory chips, and visual receptors in the fingertips. The hands also come with a special keyboard which is used to send messages. Can a partial human being still love? Can their partner still love only what remains? "Her Husband's Hands" was nominated for Nebula and Bram Stoker awards. The third story is one the author has said is his pick for his best short fiction, and it is my favorite of the collection. The title "Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs" gives no clue to what it is about. Castro says it is his 9/11 story, written from the perspective of a former New Yorker to those who declared they would never go to New York after that tragedy. It's about more than that of course, about people who remain where they have lived, a place they love, no matter the hardships. It could be about the Caribbean, where whole islands are frequently devastated by hurricanes, or in the Midwest with its dangers of tornados. There is no perfect place. All that should matter is it is your place, perfect or not. Another Nebula finalist, for Best Novelette.
"Our Human" is set within a fictional sequence that includes the novels and shorter works I'll be reading soon, but since it is toward the end of that sequence, and is about a peripheral character, I won't say anything else about it now. "Cherub" is another very strange story. A fantasy land in which everyone is born with a "rider," another face attached to their shoulder or back. The extra face supposedly reflects the true nature of that person, whether they are good or evil, honest or not, kind or cruel. What if someone's rider is calm and serene, eyes always closed, never a grimace on the face? Would you assume that person is that way themselves, angelic? Even if they were, what happens when others think angelic means weak, unable or unwilling to defend themselves? "The Shallow End of the Pool" was another Bram Stoker finalist. It is the longest; ISFDb says novella. That's not the only reason I didn't finish it in one sitting. It is both gruesome and inexplicable. There is no explanation of why the situation escalated to where twins, a girl and boy, separated for most of their life when their parents split, must fight the ultimate battle their parents should be fighting, if anyone must that is. When were they told that was the purpose of their training? Why did they go along with it? Jen has lived with her father, Ethan with their mother, or as Jen knows her, The Bitch. A cage match to end all cage matches. It is not the type of story I would normally be drawn to, or recommend for others, but it is very well written and engaging. In first-person, the narrator being Jen.
It is probably just coincidence that the title character of the next story shares a name with one from the previous story. "Pieces of Ethan" is about a boy who suffers from a strange and gruesome affliction, one that has been passed down through multiple generations. A family doctor of indeterminate age tells Ethan's older brother and sister that they are past the age when the affliction manifests, and so it is assumed they can have children themselves who will be free of the curse. It was the day of Ethan's sixth birthday when he changed, or failed to change completely, depending on how you look at it. His curse is only part of the curse within the family. The last story might remind others of what came to my mind, if they are familiar with the various adaptations of Jerome Bixby's "It's a Good Life," the most famous of which was a Twilight Zone episode in 1961. In Castro's "The Boy and the Box," a boy discovers he has a unique talent for space manipulation. His box is a jewelry box that had contained a ring given to his mother, then the box was either discarded or given to him. When he figured out how, he began putting things into the box, and continued to do so until everything and everyone around him was in the box. He would occasionally take something or someone out of the box, but their fate would be the same if they dared bore him.
If you like "feel good" stories you need to look elsewhere. You might find some in other Castro collections, but not here. If you are up to the challenge of reading an author who is not afraid to lead you down a dangerous and gruesome trail, for stories with hardly any glimmer of hope, this will fit that bill. If nothing else, seek out "Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs," which is the oldest of the stories, originally published in an original anthology in 2003, then fifteen years later was made available online, where you can still read it at Lightspeed. Recommended, but don't get mad at me if you don't like them, and don't get mad at Castro for plumbing the depths of human tragedy.
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