In Teardown, Clea Young navigates the whitewater of relationships—familial and romantic, between friends old and new.
Her stories seize on instances that, at the outset, appear benign—a woman encountering an old boyfriend on a BC ferry, a father chaperoning his daughter’s class on a field trip, a young waitress’ burgeoning friendship with a co-worker—but are in fact fraught, often pivotal times in her characters’ lives.
The stories in this arresting debut collection are populated with people you know and people you’ve been. They’re arguing about lamps in IKEA, drinking gin and tonics on a dock in summer, unemployed and without prospects. But under Young’s astute gaze they are anything but ordinary. With sharp, invigorated prose she guides us through shoals and rapids alike, along the way paying homage to our missteps, our foibles, and ultimately to the complicated hearts that comprise a life.