On "Stranger Things Have Happened" by Alix Ohlin (7100 words) ****

Here's a story by a true professional, each work intact and shining. I fell in love with it from the first sentence and came to like it more with each paragraph. There's a certain predictability in much of the trajectory (you know, the whole coming to life again, discovering one's true self and one's true love), but then again not (some things don't end up quite they way one would expect). Take a woman who is miserable, and give her the opportunity to change all that. Her husband, as it turns out, is miserable too, and surprised to find out they both are bored with one another, together they hatch plans for a divorce. Preparation for the divorce itself becomes something wonderful and exciting. And then, something happens that upsets everything and sends the story in a whole new direction. It's worth finding out what that direction is, here, at Failbetter.