Staff Pick
"The thing about being the murdered [fill in the blank] is that you set the plot in motion." With that statement, these tiny bits of flash fiction flesh out the murdered female and how her absence — as opposed to her presence — affects those around her. The importance of a book like this during this particular time in history is not lost on this reader, and Ulrich digs deep to expose and underscore the disposability of women; the way our lives are measured by those we leave behind; they way we only matter as a plot device. In a stroke of genius, Ulrich uses the second-person perspective to drive home her point that these murdered women are me, they are you, they're our friends, they're our family, they're every woman. Written with a steely sense of tension and an artistic twist of show-and-tell, this slim collection is required reading for everyone. Excellent! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Cathy Ulrich's debut story collection, GHOSTS OF YOU, seeks out the names of the lost and finds the person behind the sensationalism. It examines some of the most common tropes of mystery and crime storytelling in which the narrative always begins with the body of another murdered woman. They are mothers and daughters, teachers and students, lovers and wives, actresses and waitresses. Their lives have been taken, but their stories still remain. This is how they set the plot in motion...