Alison B. Hart
Alison B. Hart’s writing has appeared in The Florida Review, Joyland Magazine, Literary Hub, The Missouri Review, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder of the long-running reading series at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg. Her novel The Work Wife is forthcoming in 2022 from Graydon House Books.
Our original story this month comes from Brooklyn-based writer Alison B. Hart. “The Duel” looks closely at a long life together and relates the wisdom of mates one finds in Wallace Stegner or Kent Haruf. When a reader learns that this older couple still “made love like rivals,” the broader meaning of the title comes into focus: a lasting marriage is more often duel than duet. Through tender rivalry, a relationship can strengthen and sustain. Hart’s story is clean and quiet in execution but suggests that healthy relationships need mess and noise.