The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: My Family Was Like a Russian Novel by Carla Sarett

This selection, chosen by Managing Editor Krista Cox, is from My Family Was Like a Russian Novel by Carla Sarett (Plan B Press 2023).

Notes from the Underground

Brother lives in a special school, its name is unspeakable. No one is dying. At night, we listen as
Mother shuffles furniture around and peels off the wallpaper. Sofas and chairs turn fickle, they aban-
don us, imposters take their place. Sometimes there is food. I peel a single tangerine and build a tan-
gerine trail though the house. We’re beggars here, I tell Little Sister. She accepts her precious segment.
She can make it last for years.

Carla Sarett is a poet and novelist based in San Francisco. Her poetry books include She Has Visions (Main Street Rag Press, 2022) and two chapbooks, Woman on the Run (Alien Buddha Press, 2023) and My Family Was Like a Russian Novel (Plan B Press, 2023). Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart, Best of Net and Best American Essays. Carla has a PhD from University of Pennsylvania.

Krista Cox is Managing Editor of The Wardrobe, Doubleback Review, and Sundress Publications. She is growing her hair out again and reclaiming her childhood dreams.