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Two short stories are found between the covers of this thin volume. The
first is a diaphanous tale that wafts lightly between dream and
reality. As you read it, you’re never exactly sure which of the two
realms you’re occupying.
It focuses on a man who has suffered a great tragedy. In his sorrow he
has turned to drink to blunt his pain. He is lured from his unending
grief by the promise of a new beginning. But are his savior and new
surroundings fate or phantom? Is he really being given a chance at
renewal or is he being pulled into something that may well be his
complete undoing?
With language as descriptive as it is deceiving, this is a story that
keeps you both interested and intrigued. It makes you want to know more
and compels you to follow its mysterious path to journey’s end.
The second story is epic. It compresses the lifetime of a family into
remembrances that haunt with universal insight. Set in years past when
an individual’s future was often dictated by the circumstances of one’s
birth, it examines the perspective of different family members to the
life they live together, yet the thoughts they keep alone. This is a
tale of times and traditions past. Yet it leaves lasting lessons for
the present. Using admirable restraint, the author, Laurene, shows
herself to be both a keen observer of the ties that bind, and a
masterful chronicler of them.
Yes, this, her first book of short stories, is a thin volume. But it is
enormously thick with atmosphere, emotion, and eloquent writing. We
should all hope there is more to come.
RECOMMENDED by The US Review