An unusual case of pre-wedding nerves in my short story “The Neck”
I was leading a walk around Jane Eyre territory the other weekend when we heard the peal of church bells from down the valley. Wedding bells – which was perfect timing, as we were approaching the ruined chapel where the eponymous heroine doesn’t get to marry Mr Rochester.
It’s a great point of high drama in Charlotte Brontë’s novel – and in the various film adaptations. The ceremony is proceeding in the customary manner until a stranger emerges from the shadows to declare an impediment to the marriage: the groom already has a wife. Poor Jane!
Unfortunately, this scene doesn’t fit with the plot of my alternative version of Jane Eyre, where – at least in the current draft – it’s delegated to a dream. (Although, don’t worry, there’s plenty of other jeopardy.) But I do have a wedding disaster story to share with you today.
With bridezillas determined to have the perfect day combined with friends and family who ordinarily shouldn’t be in the same room together, the traditional wedding has lots of potential for entertaining fiction. Yet I can’t quite remember where I got the idea for my short story about a young woman who wakes up on the morning of her wedding to discover that her neck has grown as long as her arm.
It’s due to be released in audiobook format in 2026 but I’ve been given permission to share it now.
The Neck by Anne Goodwin read by Rachel Esposti
First published in print by Bridge House in 2009 and online by Fiction on the Web in 2013.
I must admit that, when I began listening to the recording, I wasn’t sure whether I liked it. It’s beautifully read, but it wasn’t me. It sounded like someone else’s story.
Yet when I relaxed and began to listen as if it were indeed someone else’s story, I really enjoyed it. What surprised me most of all was how funny I found it. Despite the ridiculous premise, I had recalled the serious aspects more than the humour.
Do let me know what you think.
If you enjoyed The Neck, do check out my collection published by Inspired Quill. Click below for more information.
Follow this link for information about the Fiction on the Web audiobook project.
The first series is already available, including two of my favourite stories from editor Charlie Fish’s own collection: Death by Scrabble and The Cut.
Thanks for the mention! “The Neck” is one of my fave stories I’ve ever published at Fiction on the Web. One of the things I love about writing is that once you’ve completed something and sent it out into the world, it takes on a life of its own. Readers get things out of it that you’re convinced you didn’t put in there. And then, if you’re lucky, you get that joyous moment many years later where you re-read your own story – or listen to someone else read it out for an audiobook – and you feel like, “I wrote that? Really? Wow!”
Thanks, Charlie. It gives me a shiver down my spine to hear it’s one of your favourites.
I agree, it’s fascinating how different readers find different things and there’s joy to be found in that distancing from one’s own work.