Newport Beach native and UC Riverside MFA graduate Victoria Patterson has created a literary version of “The OC” in her short story collection, “Drift.” Like the popular nighttime soap opera, Patterson’s stories are set in Newport Beach and are full of pretty scenery and angst; characters are struggling with sexual identity, floored by infidelity and divorce, and confused by the inherent cruelty of relationships.
That said, the stories are very good. Patterson uses precise and unexpected details to create convincing scenes and capture the ambience of the seaside restaurants, yacht harbors and broken homes that her characters inhabit. The characters tend to be sad and confused much of the time, but there are also moments of deliverance and connection that relieve the misery.
Patterson traces the psychological and social subtleties of both grim and hopeful interludes with great skill. She often surprises the reader in a number of good ways, and manages to imbue small-scale emotional dramas with substantial suspense.
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Newport Beach native and UC Riverside MFA graduate Victoria Patterson has created a literary version of “The OC” in her short story collection, “Drift.” Like the popular nighttime soap opera, Patterson’s stories are set in Newport Beach and are full of pretty scenery and angst; characters are struggling with sexual identity, floored by infidelity and divorce, and confused by the inherent cruelty of relationships.
