Review: A short story worth reading
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 13, 2011
Spin the Plate by Donna Anastasi is a short form of the novel by the same name.  Jo, the rough female who survived an incest-filled childhood at the hands of her father while the mother looked the other way, meets up with a young man named Francis on the subway train and the two become friends over time.  They both have their own life stories and Francis helps Jo to delve inside herself to find the good.The two characters contrast well and we find out a lot about each of them, although not as much about Francis until near the end of the story.  Jo loves her street animals and has two big dogs and some rats that she's saved and has taken good care of as pets, and Francis accepts all of this about her, too, and accepts even the rats.  Jo would love to hurt the people who hurt the animals, which is symbolic of what she'd probably like to do to her father.This is a very well-written story. These are complex characters who are both likeable. Jo not so much in the beginning, but once her background story becomes known, the reader understands her much better.  Francis sometimes seems to be in direct contrast to Jo, but the more we know about him the more surprising a character he is.  He is a spiritual person and tries to bring the value of this to Jo.I enjoyed this story, and it is one that makes the reader think.  A lot of people may know a Jo or a Francis or someone whose personalities and quirks are similar to theirs, and it gives us a lesson, also, in empathy.  Highly recommended.