Of the four stories I’ve read so far in the Atlantic Fiction 2010 issue, “Bone Hinge” by Katie Williams is my favorite. Of course, I haven’t read the story by T. C. Boyle yet.

The story is about two conjoined twins in a small town that is hard to place. It seems that the story takes place in Depression era America. I imagined a small factory town in Maine that makes paper or something. The girl’s father is the owner of the plant in town, and all we know is that they make or use all of these different kinds of dyes. What makes the exact time or place of this story difficult, is that there are mystics referred to in the town. After their birth, the girls were seen as an ill omen. People ignored them, and the mystics would place dead crows in the family’s yard. There’s a creepiness that settles over all the characters.

Getting past the mood of the story, it is really about relationships. How do the girls act toward each other? How do they live together conjoined? What happens when one of them falls in love?

Overall, this was an enjoyable story, and a departure from the other pieces in this issue.