A compact but moving collection that will stay with readers long after they close the book.
Morrow highlights human connections and love in this collection of short stories.
The story “Waxwings” describes a ritual between birds in which their “mutual and reciprocal” custom of passing fruit to one another is borne not simply out of necessity but also love; this first story sets the tone for the rest of the collection. In these five pieces of short fiction, the author examines the depth of love in relationships both romantic and familial. The titular story, “Vacation,” follows Thomas and Grace Kemp, a couple touring the Grand Canyon. Thomas has recently developed a proof that explains the existence of God. While expounding on his ideas in a lecture, Thomas notices an extremely tall man, who states, “I miss faith.” Later, at the Grand Canyon, he meets the same mysterious man and has a horrific discussion with him that rattles Thomas. In this piece, Morrow examines the concept of faith, as well as the depth of love between Thomas and Grace. A similarly evocative story, “Mr. Coe’s Garden,” concerns Curtis, a teenager in need of some spare cash who helps his neighbor, Mr. Coe, create a garden in his backyard. Over time, Mr. Coe’s idiosyncrasies, along with his eccentric plans for the garden, start to make sense when a buried time capsule is uncovered, leading to an emotional resolution. The collection’s standout story is “Navigation.” Lewis is a young man who gets lost so easily and so often that he draws intricate maps of different places to guide him. In college, he meets Robin, and they fall in love. When they vacation in Italy, Lewis thinks to himself, “In her I am never lost. By her I am always found.” Though Morrow’s stories seem brief and simple, there is a depth of feeling displayed throughout. There is also a slight irreverence to the characters, leading to dashes of humor that supplement the emotional gravitas of each story. The scenarios feel lived-in and real, even when something mystical might be taking place. This is an admirable and affecting anthology.
A compact but moving collection that will stay with readers long after they close the book.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9798888702680
Page Count: 217
Publisher: En Route Books & Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.
Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020).
In 16th-century Spain, Maria seduces a wealthy viscount in an attempt to seize whatever control she can over her own life. It turns out that being a wife—even a wealthy one—is just another cage, but then a mysterious widow offers Maria a surprising escape route. In the 19th century, Charlotte is sent from her home in the English countryside to live with an aunt in London when she’s found trying to kiss her best friend. She’s despondent at the idea of marrying a man, but another mysterious widow—who has a secret connection to Maria’s widow from centuries earlier—appears and teaches Charlotte that she can be free to love whomever she chooses, if she’s brave enough. In 2019, Alice’s memories of growing up in Scotland with her mercurial older sister, Catty, pull her mind away from her first days at Harvard University. And though she doesn’t meet any mysterious widows, Alice wakes up alone after a one-night stand unable to tolerate sunlight, sporting two new fangs, and desperate to drink blood. Horrified at her transformation, she searches Boston for her hookup, who was the last person she remembers seeing before she woke up as a vampire. Schwab delicately intertwines the three storylines, which are compelling individually even before the reader knows how they will connect. Maria, Charlotte, and Alice are queer women searching for love, recognition, and wholeness, growing fangs and defying mortality in a world that would deny them their very existence. Alice’s flashbacks to Catty are particularly moving, and subtly play off themes of grief and loneliness laid out in the historical timelines.
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781250320520
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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