2014 PEN/Faulkner Award (nominee)
Thirteen "diamond-sharp stories" of loss, rescue, and redemption told "with precision and a depth of insight and empathy that enfold the reader" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Valerie Trueblood's second collection of short stories brings readers inside the minds of psychologically complex individuals who find themselves at life's extremities. These are diverse characters whose fates, in lesser hands, might be thought of as hopeless: the fired cop turned security guard; the stolid, 19-year-old nurses' aide who will not be going to art school; the cynical radio producer who is dying of breast cancer and on a plane on her way to Lourdes.
With empathy, wry humor, and incisive economy of prose, Valerie Trueblood has crafted a gem-like collection of stories of loss and rescue in which the meanings of both loss and rescue continually change in surprising and ingenious ways. These stories "are so engrossing, so beautifully written, so complete . . . they linger long after you've finished them" (The Guardian, UK).
Genre: Literary Fiction
Valerie Trueblood's second collection of short stories brings readers inside the minds of psychologically complex individuals who find themselves at life's extremities. These are diverse characters whose fates, in lesser hands, might be thought of as hopeless: the fired cop turned security guard; the stolid, 19-year-old nurses' aide who will not be going to art school; the cynical radio producer who is dying of breast cancer and on a plane on her way to Lourdes.
With empathy, wry humor, and incisive economy of prose, Valerie Trueblood has crafted a gem-like collection of stories of loss and rescue in which the meanings of both loss and rescue continually change in surprising and ingenious ways. These stories "are so engrossing, so beautifully written, so complete . . . they linger long after you've finished them" (The Guardian, UK).
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for Valerie Trueblood's Search Party