NOTHING COMES BACK

Characters start life anew or find themselves anchored by the past in Lloy’s short story collection.

In “Synthesis of a Dream,” married retirees Boris and Tess set sail on their beautiful new boat. All seems well, and friends soon join them on their travels in Nice, France. Still, Boris is in a funk, as retirement may not be all he’d hoped for. In “The Wayward Collective,” Wanda moves into an old fixer-upper she’s inherited and takes on a few roommates, including her best friend, Perry. Sure, some of them clash, but what could possibly go wrong with discreetly adding some psychedelic mushrooms to a house party? Throughout the collection, people’s pasts weigh heavily. Some try escaping by picking up stakes; one woman fabricates her backstory to impress others (“Basta”). These well-written tales are often understated, set in tranquil seaside towns or communities, driven by characters who are loners; in the standout story “A Weed in the Canyon,” Clementine makes a new home in Laurel Canyon, where she goes on walks alone and enjoys solitude on her garden terrace. Some tales, however, are a bit darker. “And Then” finds Augusta reeling after her husband’s suicide; she wants to know why he did it, and one of her friend’s secrets might hold the key. In the outright creepy “Transparencies,” an unidentified person peruses old photos, sifting through memories—some fading, some happy, and one especially unsettling (“Sure, I’ve had interludes of remorse at times. But hey, she asked for it. Getting out of her fancy car and spewing those contemptuous remarks, well look at you two losers and so forth on that hot summer night”). The author builds first-rate characters even in the handful of one- and two-page tales.

Quietly absorbing stories with a superlative cast of characters.