Shit Cassandra Saw: Stories

The settings of the stories in Kirby’s first collection vary from mythological Troy to present-day Greenleaf, AL, and lots in between. Each story is wildly unique, starting with Cassandra, who saw it all but was ignored by the Trojans. Well, she isn’t the first woman ignored by men. In another story women grow fangs, install experimental laser eyes, and become cockroaches or werewolves, which results in a new respect from the gents they interact with in society. A third tells of a woman having an affair with a fellow teacher in her house, which is haunted by the ghost of an Evangelical preacher. No anguished victims here. These characters are ferocious; they have agency and waste little time suffering fools. Narrators Julia Whelan, Sura Siu, Rob Shapiro, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, and Rebecca Lowman do a great job giving each story its own identity and boosting the text.