This is the writer's voice, new fiction from the New Yorker. I'm Deborah Treisman,

fiction editor at the New Yorker. I'm Deborah Treisman, fiction editor at the New Yorker. On this

episode of the writer's voice we'll hear Elizabeth Stroud read her story

Motherless Child from the August 5th and 12th 2019 issue of the magazine.

Stroud is the author of six books of fiction,

including My Name is Lucy Barton and Olive Kittridge,

which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

A new book, Olive Again, will be published in October.

Now here's Elizabeth Strout.

Motherless Child.

They were late.

Olive Kitridge hated people who were late.

A little after lunchtime, they had said,

and Olive had the lunch things out, peanut butter and jelly for the two oldest kids, and tuna fish

sandwiches for her son, Christopher, and his wife Anne.

For the little ones, she had no idea.

The baby was only six weeks old and wouldn't be eating anything

solid yet. Little Henry was over two, but what did two-year-olds eat?

Olive couldn't remember what Christopher had eaten when he was that age.

The phone rang and Olive quickly answered it.

Christopher said,

Okay mom, we're just leaving Portland.

...