By Gene Wolfe
Suzanne Delage is a short story, written in the first person, where the narrator recalls his life, which seems to be defined by a single conceit. In his own words,
It is simply this: Living all my life, as I have, in a town of less than a hundred thousand population, I have been dimly aware of the existence of a certain woman without ever meeting her or gaining any sure idea of her appearance.
It’s an absolutely and immediately fascinating idea, and Wolfe pulls it off very well, creating a murky, dimly-seen haze through which we may perceive this woman and her effects, leaving a gigantic central question: who is she? And why, all his life, has the narrator orbited her without having any recollection of her?
[Spoilers here] it turns out, according to Gwern, that this whole story is a vastly clever inversion of Dracula! I’ll leave it to you to consider that idea, but it’s a very satisfying resolution.
2422 words.