The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

 I took my kids to the beach and they were well enough entertained that I had time to read, but that never happens, so I hadn’t brought my book! I then downloaded The Office of Historical Corrections and read halfway through it as the kids played. This is a collection of short stories and a novella. Each of the stories deals with race in a different context. In the title novella, the main character is an officer in a fictional government office which corrects historical facts in public - signs, conversations, museum displays, etc. Another character is dismissed for over zealous correction, and the main character is dispatched to clean up the ensuing controversy. The story was an engaging read that dealt themes related to passing – What does it mean to be black or to be white in the US? How does any of us take advantage of privilege wherever we can find it? – as well as the idea of truth, both as it concerns historical facts and each of our lived experience. It was engaging throughout and left me stunned when it was over.


The rest of the collection was likewise thought provoking and it was all lovely to read. I was impressed with how well Danielle Evans established character depth within short stories, and appreciated how she dealt with complex, racially charged situations without passing clear judgement on any of the people in her stories – even as virtually all of them seemed to judge themselves.

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