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Maureen F. McHugh
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Yellow and the Perception of Reality: A Tor.com Original Kindle Edition

by Maureen McHugh (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
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"Yellow and the Perception of Reality" by Maureen McHugh is a science fiction story about a woman who delves into the mystery of why and how her twin sister, a physicist, has been brain damaged in a lab accident in which two of her colleagues died.

I wear yellow when I go to see my sister. There’s not a lot of yellow at the rehab facility; it’s all calm blues and neutrals. I like yellow—it looks good on me—but I wear it because Wanda is smart and she’s figured it out. She knows it’s me now when she sees the yellow.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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  1. Print length
    32 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Tor Books
  5. Publication date
    July 22, 2020
  6. File size
    3519 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08CCRNVM5
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books (July 22, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 22, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3519 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

About the author

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Maureen F. McHugh

Maureen F. McHugh

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Maureen F. McHugh grew up in Ohio, but has lived in New York City and, for a year, in Shijiazhuang, China. She is the author of four novels. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang, won the Tiptree Award and her latest novel, Nekropolis, was a Book Sense 76 pick and a New York Times Editor's Choice. McHugh teaches scriptwriting at the University of Southern California. She and her husband and two dogs used to live next to a dairy farm. Sometimes, in the summer, black and white Holsteins looked over the fence at them. Now she lives in Los Angeles, California.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
45 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sarah Elkins
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful exploration of perceptions, reality, and family
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2021
Verified Purchase
Social worker June goes to see her 30-year-old mathematician sister Wanda in a nursing home every day, and puzzles over what terrible thing happened in the research lab where Wanda worked. The readers may understand more than June does, especially if they're up on how octopuses' neural systems (radically different from mammals') may affect their perceptions and their cognition. But more importantly to June, Wanda at least recognizes her and loves her, most of the time. This is a story of very different sisters who keep connections with each other best they can.
One person found this helpful
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'chelle
4.0 out of 5 stars A sadly beautiful science fiction short about familial love and perceptions of reality
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2020
A sadly beautiful science fiction short about familial love and perceptions of reality
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Sue Burke
5.0 out of 5 stars Reality
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2020
Verified Purchase
This story will leave you wondering -- in a good way.
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Kenya Starflight
3.0 out of 5 stars Unfocused and flawed, but deeply emotional
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021
This story is unique, to say the very least. I wish I could say I loved it, as the premise definitely makes you think and it's a deeply emotional story about struggling to help a loved one suffering from a terrible, mind-altering injury. But the writing honestly felt rather uneven, and the story takes a scattershot approach that isn't as effective as it should have been.

Wanda was once an accomplished scientist... but a disaster in the lab has killed two of her fellow researchers and damaged her brain to such a degree that she can no longer process reality. Her sister, June, visits her devotedly and struggles to help her make progress and recover, while also looking into the accident that left her in such a state. Answers, sadly, are in short supply... and June must come to terms with the fact that whatever happened to her sister, she may never be the same...

This story tries to make a statement about the perilous nature of reality -- how we're not equipped to truly handle it, and how much work our brains do to process reality into a form we can understand. But the approach she takes is fairly scattered and unfocused -- which is probably part of the point, as June is a layperson who's struggling for the scant information she can glean about her sister's research. Still, a short story/novella needs to be fairly tightly plotted to make the most of its limited length, and it doesn't feel like this story does that. The octopus segment, for example, feels rather unnecessary, or at least could have been much shorter.

Despite the unfocused story, it does manage to be deeply emotional. It's a harrowing look at taking care of a loved one who's suffered a devastating brain injury, and the struggle to help them recover and make sense of a vastly changed world. Science fiction elements aside, it packs an emotional punch, and anyone who's had to deal with a serious illness or injury to a family member can probably relate in some way to June and Wanda, and their struggles.

"Yellow and the Perception of Reality" has its flaws, and honestly felt rather scattershot in its approach. But it does have some lovely bits as well, and is a deeply heartfelt piece that I'll remember for some time to come.
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Macjazz1
5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging short story
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2020
An engaging short story, with McHugh's usual low key, matter of fact storytelling style. Anything from her is always welcome, and this is no exception.
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Top reviews from other countries

Vilte
4.0 out of 5 stars Good short story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the themes of perception and reality and I liked the characters. The ending was sweet, writing was good
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