Small Marvels: Stories

In Limestone, Indiana, an obscure midwestern town that rarely appears on maps (cartographers tend to disagree on its location), peculiar things happen, often in the vicinity of a jack-of-all-trades named Gordon Mills. Centaurs and nymphs take shelter in a local cave, warm snow falls on the Fourth of July, and the Northern Lights shine down on the municipal dump.

Gordon, a maintenance man for the city, takes such events in stride. After all, he has a knack for finding delight in nearly any situation. When he's not working, he is home with his wife, a formidable woman named Mabel, along with their four children, Mabel's parents, and his widowed mother--nine souls packed into an old house that falls apart as fast as Gordon can fix it. They aren't exactly poor, since they never go hungry, but they also never have any spare cash to put away for harder times. Yet, Gordon's greatest marvel of all is the tumultuous love he and Mabel have nurtured for a quarter of a century.

Small Marvels, reminiscent of The House in the Cerulean Sea, is a gem of a novel that will leave you smiling at a happy marriage in a bursting house in a very unusual community.

In Limestone, Indiana, a city tucked away among forested hills, peculiar things happen, often in the vicinity of a jack-of-all-trades named Gordon Mills. Centaurs and nymphs shelter in a local cave, alligators lurk in the sewers, warm snow falls on the Fourth of July, cornstalks rise higher than chimneys, and the Northern Lights shine down on the municipal dump.

Gordon takes such events in stride, and deals with them as part of his work on the city maintenance crew. He earns just enough to support a boisterous family, which includes his formidable wife, Mabel, their four children, Mabel's parents, and his widowed mother--nine souls packed into an old house that falls apart as fast as Gordon can fix it.

Part folktale, part tall tale, part comic romance, Small Marvels revels in the wonders of everyday life. So, welcome to Limestone, Indiana. You won't find it on a map, but you may remember visiting the place in dreams, the rare, blissful ones in which puzzles are solved, kids flourish, hard work pays off, and love endures.