Evening - By Vera Mont

One sentence story, but one could see a lot within this very little window. The origin of madeleines could tell us something about the grandmother.

That was short. I wasn't sure who she was the grandmother of. If of the children, then the nursing mother was her daughter, or maybe the man was her son. The kin question loomed large for me. Not sure why.

I didn't know what a chimney nook was, but wiki informed me of the Inglenook common in Scottish homes, which is consistent with the British spelling of savour.

My vision is of an old lady with a bunch of crooked teeth (the British thing) perching like a chicken with her toes wrapped around her shawl chewing on a grilled potato too close to a fire with a family of potato satiated people behind her.

I didn't know what a madeline was either, and my research showed it was like a ladyfinger.. Then I thought of tiramisu, my favorite dessert, and that made me happy.

My review is longer than the story, so it must've been good. I actually really liked it.

I liked it because Hanover explained it in his own way.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing. A little verbose and long-winded though... j/k.
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One to three sentence-story has a "punchline" that's not part of what's written but definitely part of the story -- the reader has the task of continuing the story to its logical conclusion after the written words ended. Tricky, but well worth the read if done correctly.

Quoting Caldwell

, folds her shawl and perches on it in the chimney-nook, then savours her meal, recalling the taste of madeleines.

Madeleine etymologically represents "littl girl" in a germanic context. Could this be her reflecting on what it was like to be young and provided for in contrast to her current role - matriarchal provider to the Family?

I enjoy the brevity. Clearly the author was able to impart deeper meaning/connotation in very few words. A great skill.

Evening

Period of time at the end of the day or a late stage of life. In this case both.

Quoting Caldwell

Having fed the man, the children and the young nursing mother, grandmother pulls the last baked potato out of the ashes, folds her shawl and perches on it in the chimney-nook, then savours her meal, recalling the taste of madeleines.

The grandmother having seen and done it all. Has taken care of everyone before herself. It's only then she can appreciate her 'meal' of a potato. Keeping warm, the fire dying out. Now looking back to perhaps better times.
The taste of madeleines.

In search of lost times.

Proust’s madeleine.

À la recherche du temps perdu.

'This early 20th-century work is his most prominent, known both for its length and its theme of involuntary memory. The most famous example of this is the "episode of the madeleine", which occurs early in the first volume...'

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Exceptional.