Gillian A Corsiatto

Duck Light Gillian A Corsiatto

What if an animal could resemble a human, sometimes even more than a real human?

Duck Light is the story of Lulu and Rosie: two ducks in love. And, quite frankly, they are bored with life as ducks. The pair are recently engaged and live their lives together in a way similar to what they observe in humans: cooking from a cookbook, watching television, sleeping in a bed, smoking, vaping, drinking, swearing . . . you get the idea. Each chapter is a complete short story, with the stories linked by the pair's relationship, their impending migration, and their pesky next door neighbours: the scary and mean man on the right, and to the left, Margaret the crazed squirrel.

The book opens with Lulu in the bathtub, savouring a cigarette to the sounds of Offenbach. As the chapters progress, winter is on its way, so all the ducks, including Lulu and Rosie, will have to fly south for the cold season. 'Down South' is their eventual winter destination, and also the setting for the couple's upcoming nuptials. The book ends with the zany pair being wed in a virtually perfect beach ceremony attended by their migratory pals. It seems as though Lulu and Rosie are basically humans, and not ducks at all! Does their near-human lifestyle exist only in their imaginations, or are they truly as sophisticated as they believe?

Through the two feathered protagonists endowed with human characteristics, such as Lulu's tendency to be a people-pleaser, and Rosie's mean streak, this humorous work contemplates a serious question: How can one break free of societal expectations?