By Jane Carlson
When Mary Barnes Bruce, associate professor of English, submitted "C’est La Perfum: for publication in a European anthology, the short story had already been rejected several times in the United States.
But sitting in her second story office on a chilly spring morning, exhausted and fighting jet-lag after a whirlwind trip to Paris for a book signing, it was Barnes Bruce who had the last laugh.
"So the Americans didn’t like it," Barnes Bruce lamented. "The Europeans did." "C’est La Perfum," the story of a lonely and unconfident expatriate in Cameroon whose jogging suit no longer fits because she has indulged in too many cream puffs, was selected for publication in They Only Laughed Later : Tales of Women on the Move, a collection of stories about women traveling in foreign lands, usually alone.
The anthology, edited by Carol Allen and Richard Hill, was published in September by Europress and was introduced in Brussels on Oct. 14. The formal book launching, which Barnes Bruce attended in March, was held at the "Women On the Move" conference in Paris.
Based on actual events that transpired during Barnes Bruce’s time in Africa, the expatriate protagonist in "C’est La Perfum" encounters an inebriated chief who wants her to be his wife while she is running a marathon, and consequently, nearly busting out of her jogging suit.
By the end of the story, an ex-carnival worker named Tony buys off the chief with two bottles of aspirin, some matchbooks, and a first aid kit and she returns home. When she tosses her jogging suit over a chair, she realizes that although the button holes have begun to unravel, she hasn’t.
While in Paris, Barnes Bruce had the opportunity to meet the rest of the authors whose work was included in the anthology. Their conversations during dinner at Brassiere Bourbon included plans to create a Belgium-based web site that would encourage women to travel alone.
"We would serve via e-mail as mentors for women traveling alone throughout the world," she explained.
Barnes Bruce said she suspects the theme of being vulnerable in the short story is what makes it popular, though she admits she’s baffled that the three-and-a-half page story has gotten so much attention.
"If I’ve learned anything from it, it’s to be persistent in sending out material and to keep trying to work hard at my craft," she said. "What one place doesn’t like, some other place will."
Barnes Bruce said the experience is proof that she, too, is always learning about the craft of writing and the business of publishing, not just teaching it.
She is currently at work on a novel, entitled Hold Out For 24 Cows.
Last Updated 24 September, 1999