William Trevor: After Rain

Abstract or Introduction

William Trevor published these twelve short stories under the uniting heading of ‘After Rain’. There is more to this term than the aspect of weather, or even the atmosphere after rain described in the title story (VI 92, 94). For Trevor, the term catches a brief moment between rain and the reemerging, scourging sun. Being genuinely interested in human relations, he takes this moment onto a metaphorical level, describing a short moment of grace. This can mean a sudden understanding of one’s own psyche or the forces governing one’s relationships. Trevor tries to catch a glimpse1of those instances in people’s lives when they have a chance to change the tracks of the daily grind, or at least have a sudden clear vision of their clouded, yet encumbering problems. Because the author is not a man of grand words or of grand characters, it would be inappropriate to speak of ‘epiphany’ in Joycean terms or of ‘salvation’ in a religious manner. Nevertheless, a certain solemnity pervades the stories, not necessarily in direct religious terms, but in the combination of esthetic writing, colorful descriptions of landscape and characters and in a humble approach to life as such. Trevor’s interest is in the ordinary, somewhat twisted characters4, in their struggle to make sense of their lives - and this is what makes him a humanistic writer.5
This is the frame for all of the twelve short stories in this collection. Yet each is a selfcontained story with different characters, different relationships, and settings. Accordingly, the theme of ‘after rain’, a potential moment of relieving consciousness, comes in variations, adapted to the texture of life it encounters. It is in this sense that I will try to present (most of) the short stories.