NOTABLE WORKS REVIEW: “Moira” by Jamie Flanagan
Reviewed by E.S. Magill
Short story in Shadows in the Stacks: A Horror Anthology, edited by Vincent V. Cava, James Sabata, and Jared Sage
Trigger Warning: This review addresses mental health.
Synopsis: Nine-year old Moira lives immersed in the magic of childhood. On her birthday, she receives a diary—her symbolic book of life—from her mother and witchy grandmothers. Unlike an ordinary blank diary, this one is writ with the events of her life. The book, however, comes with two crucial rules: never read ahead and never lose it. Eager to glimpse the future, Moira breaks the first rule and discovers that knowing what lies ahead robs her of the experience of living it. Rule two is broken when the book is stolen. The thief reads the diary, disrupting Moira’s life—an evocative metaphor for the onset of Moira’s mental illness, and the phrase “Pages flutter” recurs throughout the story to symbolize a life lost to the ravages of this health problem.
While mental illness is conventionally seen as emanating from the mind—the brain malfunctioning— and expressed through the body—physical responses such as insomnia or nausea, Jaimie Flanagan’s short story “Moira” identifies the true locus of mental illness—the soul—and names this state “soul-sick,” emphasizing how mental illness affects the very core of our being, our identity and sense of self. Through the lens of fantasy and horror, “Moira” presents the traumatic journey of someone navigating life with this disability.
Flanagan’s story portrays mental illness as a thief stealing life’s time, dreams, and magic. Reading “Moira” for the first time I cried for here was the entire struggle of mental illness laid out from childhood to middle age. The specifics differ from Moira, to myself, and to others burdened with this condition, but the tone is familiar. Flanagan writes honestly and without casting judgment, allowing the story to serve as a mirror for those enduring similar difficulties and a guide for those seeking to understand.
Having endured a lifetime of mental illness myself, I stand in Moira’s shoes and share her perspective. For Moira though, true relief never manifests and that is where we differ. Treatment for mental illness has made significant strides in recent years, and I was able to do what Moira did not, seek help instead of waiting for it to come to me. I pursued two therapies, and through them I have experienced a profound recovery from depression and anxiety. For younger generations afflicted with mental illness, this means their “stolen diaries” can be reclaimed earlier in life, and for all those who suffer, life’s pages no longer need flutter by. Magic can indeed be restored to life, and one’s soul-sickness can heal.
E.S. Magill is the editor of three anthologies and the author of the Magica series, a paranormal thriller. Her short stories have been published in anthologies, such as California Screamin’. In addition, she has written for two magazines and served as the Reviews Editor for Dark Wisdom magazine, where she also wrote the column “The Dark Librarian.”
Magill is a mental health advocate, writing about her own journey in the nonfiction self-help book Reveal Your Wings, a guide to ketamine infusion therapy. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English and is a retired English teacher.
