Whatever had been going on inside the shuttered old house, the couple who lived there kept it to themselves. Among the locals, there's only chilling speculation.
Neighbours are shocked when Harold Pardee reports his wife dead. No one even knew the eccentric TV repairman was married. Within hours, horrible rumours spread about what that poor woman must have endured for thirty years. Until the Pardees' carefully guarded world is exposed. New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Haigh delivers an endearing short story about our misguided perception of strangers, the nature of love, and the need for secrets.
Jennifer Haigh's Zenith Man is part of Inheritance, a collection of five stories about secrets, unspoken desires, and dangerous revelations between loved ones. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single setting. By yourself, behind closed doors, or shared with someone you trust.
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[This story begins with a 911 call]***
(Amazon Original Stories, 19 December 2019, 22 pages, ebook, borrowed from @AmazonKindle #PrimeReading)
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I'd never heard of the author before so had no expectations for this story. This is my favourite piece so far from the Inheritance collection. Haigh perfectly captures the paranoia and gossip mill of living in a small town and how locals react to anyone who stands out or seems not to fit in with perceived norms. Paradee is demonised and turned into an ogre of monstrous proportions without a shred of evidence that he's done anything. The tone of the story gradually gets darker and more intense. I was definitely check out more of the author's work.
