Cassandra at the Wedding av Dorothy Baker

Cassandras tvillingsyster Judith ska gifta sig och Cassandras självdistanserade humor-röst berättar och snart fattar vi: Cassandra är halv utan Judith.

Judith är däremot hel utan Cassandra med doktor perfekt John Thomas Finch.

Bröllopet ska vara litet, bara familjen Edwards och brudgummen och så har det alltid varit: familjen Edwards är sig själva nog, tvillingflickorna växte upp lyssnande vid filosofiprofessorpappas fötter och fnysande åt korridorsnack. We didn't need people.

Nu är mamma död, farmor gammal, pappa börjar bli småsenil och syster ska gifta sig. En familj is the place where there's not enough of anything for any one of the parts whose sum that family is som Deborah Eisenberg skriver i efterordet.


När Judith får berätta frågar hon sig: Varför kan inte Cassandra också älska någon? Why can't she love anybody but me?

Förresten, the reason of being, enligt Cassandras terapeut är främst arbete, och intressen. Och kärlek. Och det där har du? frågar Cassandra. Ja svarar hon: because I found out how not to keep losing it.
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Dorothy Baker

Cassandra at the Wedding. 1962. nyrb, 2004: ISBN 1-59017-112-8

Förresten 2
I hadn't expected to find anybody around so early, but I reckoned without granny. She was in the kitchen, all clean and crisp and inexorably alert. Cheery and nosy and glad to see me, because she loves having someone to eat breakfast with, but she cannot wait until lunch time for the privilege, and it's a long wait between six and tweleve with no breakfast.

I thought of things to say to that, suggestions like stay in bed until eleven-thirty and cut the wait down to a half hour, but I didn't say any of them, partly because I didn't feel like making my mouth open, and partly because whe was pleased with me as an early riser and it felt nice to have it that way. I even walked around the bar and came up to her and held my breath and kissed her very quickly without breathing on her, because granny likes to be kissed goodnight and good morning, and I didn't remember about goodnight, whether I had or hadn't. Probably hadn't, and I probably shouldn't have tried it this morning, either, because it involved some leaning over and a little bending down.
I Cassandra at the Wedding finns dom bästa bakis-skildringar jag läst.