I loved how Belle Boggs was able to create the character’s age without actually giving you it until the very end. I would have been really very much okay if the age was never said at all actually. Belle Boggs gave the reader a character and filled out the portrait of this woman but by doing it by drawing the negative space to show this part of the woman’s life. And it increases as you get into the depth of the story. First, it’s shaky hands. Then it’s the issue of pride and parking in a handicapped space. Then it’s gray hair. Then it’s the description of how long she’d been voting, who she’d voted for, how she or other women voted. The way she was able to do this was a subtle type of stunning and I greatly appreciated it.
And of course, this is also masterfully done with being also being the continued flip of the “Imperial Chysanthemum” and Loretta story.