Synopses & Reviews
Starling Lawrence's evocative and subtle stories are about illuminations that alter the course of ordinary lives, about moments where the known world is dissolved in fierce recognition. In stories such as "Legacy" or "The Chosen People" the defining moment takes place in childhood, and we are left to wonder what burden of memory these events will impose. For the protagonists of "Butterflies" and "The Crown of Light," or for the narrator of "Immortality," a seed that has been sown years earlier comes to flower under very specific circumstances. "Eight fictional reflections on the nature of love and loss, written with such grace and devotion to character that they echo like elegy in the reader's mind. . . . A writer notable for his ability to create fully imagined lives, and to convey these to us in sure and elegant prose. . . . Evocative fictional debut."--Jessica Treadway, "Super . . . bright and illuminating. . . . Each of his stories works like a cunning, cruel trap and readers will soon thank Lawrence for setting them up, even as they realize it is happening again."-- "Elegantly built and taunting mazes and mirror-shows. . . . Fascinating."--
Review
"Winner of the Virginia Quarterly Review'sBalch Prize, Starling Lawrence is a literary inventor of the highest order. This long-anticipated collection of short stories is a quietly provocative examination of the vicissitudes of love, manifested in all its multiple guises. The bird-watching protagonist of 'Desire Lines,' for example, cherishes her hobby to such a degree that, almost in spite of herself, she kills a rival. In 'The Crown of Light,' a story which first appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review, an estranged farmer, longing for the fraternal warmth of his past, leaves his wife in the middle of the night and never returns. All of these heroes seem conflicted and ordinary and delicate, haunted by ghosts present or past, and all evoke an uncomfortable mix of sympathy and dread. Because Lawrence's plots are simple and straightforward, devoid of distracting spins or complicated nuances, the reader is left with the
shock of the obvious; love drives us all mad. This is the perfect collection to launch a storied career." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
"These finely crafted stories expose the author's wicked intent-to place the reader defenseless in the path of onrushing truth. With the assistance of some unforgettable characters, Starling Lawrence succeeds admirably."--Harper Lee
About the Author
Starling Lawrence is editor at large at W. W. Norton and the author of the highly praised Montenegro and The Lightning Keeper. His fiction has been awarded the Lytle Prize by the Sewanee Review and the Balch Prize by the Virginia Quarterly Review