Eve Koguce's Blog, page 9

A Lion's Pride by P.L. Stuart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“A Lion’s Pride” by P.L. Stuart is the fourth instalment of the epic fantasy Drowned Kingdom saga. And what a riveting instalment it is! From the first pages, the story pulled me in and held me in its grip until the end.

“… being a king is a cruel honour.” Othrun, the King of Eastrealm, has already learned this truth – multiple times. He had lost his royal privileges, rights to the throne, the hope to not only ever rule over any kingdom but to live long enough to try to fight for the throne – over and over again. He had to suppress his very nature – and he is a royal persona to the core – and to mingle with the commoners. He had to endure unspeakable hardships, holding his head bowed at times and his nose shut (my favourite episode in “The Last of the Atalanteans). And he had done all this without lamenting his fate. Quite the opposite, he had embraced his fate as it had turned out to be, and he acted upon achieving the goal, which always was front and centre of his existence. He is the King.

And still, “Happiness is secondary when you’re a king,” Othrun says to his son, who is yet to accept this truth.

After reading “A Lion’s Pride”, I persist in my opinion that Othrun is one of the most remarkable characters in modern literature. I commend the author for his bravery in creating a character so true to life in a fantasy setting. It becomes especially apparent in this book of the saga that if Othrun were different, it wouldn’t have come to the fourth instalment. He would have died in book one, or there simply wouldn’t have been a story for the author to tell us readers. To be a king, one should think like one. Which means, to think above and beyond everything that is personal, sentimental, and transitory. Othrun learns and accepts that even grief is passing when you have to deal with fundamental issues, on which the lives of the whole nation depend.

In the fourth book, we get to see all the facets of Othrun’s controversial personality. He is a warlord, a womanizer – over the three books, he has acquired quite an impressive romantic portfolio, to which he promptly added at the beginning of book four – he is also a king and a father. Some might find his attitude to his son’s dilemmas appalling, while I, yet again, applaud the author for having the courage to portray someone of Othrun’s standing in such a realistic light. He doesn’t do any illogical and silly things like banishing his progeny for not complying with his royal expectations. He loves his son and wants what’s best for him. It is only human that his and his son’s vision of happiness differ. He also doesn’t accept docilely the things incompatible with the future king’s path. These aren’t even prejudices or cruelty. This is… well, life. The reality of royals as it is.

Despite finding out from the mages the ugly truth that might destroy everything he holds dear – power, throne, privilege – Othrun chooses to move on. After all, as per his own words, “…a king does not acknowledge his imperfections publicly.” He proves to his overlords that he is indeed a great warlord. The battles he leads are epic and bloody, but Othrun seems to feel on the battlefield as comfortably as in his sumptuous royal quarters.

Othrun stays true to himself also outside the battlefield and the bedroom. What makes him a perfect king is his sixth sense in politics. He feels where he can gamble and where it’s better to stay behind the scenes and submit to those with more power. It’s true, though, that when it comes to Othrun, he only submits when he has a plan to unexpectedly rise and try to move even higher. “It takes true courage to betray someone who rules by right but has no right to be ruling,” he says to his faithful friend Centi, who, unlike Othrun, succumbs to the situation unfavourble to him.

For me, as a loyal admirer of P.L. Stuart’s incredible work in creating the world of the Drowned Kingdom Saga, reading this book was an immensely rewarding experience. With some long-held secrets revealed, shocking twists, and a colourful mix of enticing and formidable characters, “A Lion’s Pride” has both satisfied my curiosity and fuelled my interest to continue reading this series.

Book four of the Drowned Kingdom saga is rich with the author’s trademark descriptions, which transform a fantasy setting into a real one. There are political intrigues, battle scenes, and personal drama aplenty to satisfy even the most demanding and sophisticated fantasy genre lovers.




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A Lion's Pride

Storms, Starlight & Magic by Helena M. Craggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a superb finale to the amazing series!

The fourth instalment of the Younglings “Storms, Starlight & Magic” by Helena M. Craggs wraps up the story beautifully. It is also a mind-blowing rollercoaster of events that doesn’t let you take a breath between turning the pages.

Quinn Carter might be a half-demon, and he might fight supernatural threats all around the world to keep us humans safe and happily oblivious. He might see and experience things most – almost all –people never get to see and experience. He is a soldier of sorts, and he kills evil creatures without hesitation – even if without a particular pleasure too. Still, Quinn is young, and some things that may seem insignificant against the backdrop of his life full of action and peril can hurt him deeper than a magic fireball – which, by the way, probably will make him only stronger since fire is his father’s domain.

Quinn’s life is good. Not without its drawbacks and worries – apart from the constant imminent danger of getting slain by some monster from the Underworld – but he has nothing to complain about. His gorgeous half-angel girlfriend adores him – and when you are twenty, who cares that your love doesn’t care about jumping into the marital bliss right away (well, a teeny-weeny spoiler, Quinn does, but…) – his family supports him, his friends are with him, and he is about to graduate from college. Enough to send the prayers of gratitude to Heavens. So, when his imperfectly perfect world starts to crumble, Quinn is not as prepared to deal with the consequences as he would’ve been ready to fight a vampire coven, or a demigod, or whoever else might spring right out of hell.

Used to dealing with paranormal threats of high calibre – think Greek gods sort of calibre – Quinn might not be prepared to fight the battle where the risk is not only physical. Will Quinn overcome the most profound emotional pain? Or will it shatter his soul and his whole being?

Peppered with sizzling hot romantic scenes – including between the characters from whom the series readers wouldn’t expect any chemistry whatsoever – the final book of The Younglings will not let your eyelids droop, no matter how long you’ll stay awake not to stop reading. Full of magic, adventure, the characters that cause mixed feelings but also make one want to find out more about them, “Storms, Starlight & Magic” is a grandiose finale of the Younglings series.





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The Great American Scrapbook by Will Tinkham

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"We're all stronger for what we've been through and what those we love have been through." Says Nancy, who is suffering from Gulf War I-related PTSD, to her brother Brock, who is suffering from another kind of trauma. These words struck me as so piercingly true that I saved this quote from the brilliant novel by Will Tinkham “The Great American Scrapbook”.

Brock McCoy leads an unconventional life. He is thirty-one, jobless, and he lives with his sister, his mother, and a woman who isn’t his wife or girlfriend. Moreover, when he met that woman thirteen years ago, his most ardent wish was to not ever see her again. Still, this lifestyle works for him. Especially since things begin to happen that give Brock hope for his dreams to come true.

And yet, as the long – and not always pretty – history of the McCoy family has proved, nothing will be easy where a McCoy is concerned.

"He'd had breakups—girls and bands—and broken bones and dreams." Brock’s life had been unbalanced even before he was born. His family, caught up in the throes of risks brought up on American families by the draft during the war in Vietnam, wasn’t fully recovered when he was growing up. Escaping his father’s prejudices, the danger to fall a victim of a new draft – to the Gulf War this time - looming over American youth, and a simple wish of many a young man to make his life more exciting, Brock had spent thirteen years living in Toronto, Canada with his older brother.

When he returns to Minneapolis, it seems that nothing has changed. He is the same man who had left home more than a decade ago. He hasn’t acquired an education or valuable connections. The only thing that he has developed is his love for music – and some skill, too. So, when, out of the blue, a chance to fill in for a bass player in a rock band appears, Brock grabs it without hesitation. Even though he doesn’t have any high hopes for career development. Even though it is an all-female band. Even though they dress him up as a girl not to disappoint the fans.

And so, a new chapter in Brock’s life begins. Gigs, rehearsals, meeting with people who aren’t nameless on the music scene. It can go only up the hill from there, right? I won’t give any spoilers, but you can be sure that the hill gets only bumpier for Brock. He is a McCoy, after all.

I’d like to give a standing ovation to the author for masterfully manipulating readers’ sympathies by transforming the most infuriatingly annoying character from “Alice and Her Grand Bell” into the most likeable one. Peaches is absolutely magnificent. And the secrets from her past that she shares passingly are truly jaw-dropping.

“The Great American Scrapbook” tells a story that will make you gasp in surprise, burst out giggling (it happened to me when I was in public transport, more than once, so be prepared!), reflect on your family’s history and immediately want to search through the old archives of photographs or letters. What you definitely won’t be able to do is stop turning the pages. The author has a unique way of weaving together the historical events with the lives of common people, the characters of his books. And altogether, it blossoms into an unputdownable read.

Needless to say, I’m going to continue with the Americana series by Will Tinkham.






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The Great American Scrapbook

I Meant to Tell You by Fran Hawthorne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"How many secrets could a marriage survive?” Miranda Isaacs asks herself this question when she faces a situation where she isn’t yet married but already a liar. Still, although the fact that she hasn’t been open with her fiancée is undeniable, she can’t reconcile with being called a liar. What she hadn’t told the man she plans to marry could have never surfaced at all. If he hadn’t been aiming at the job of his dreams in the U.S. attorney’s office, he and those close to him wouldn’t have been subjected to the strictest check. Alas, such checks are performed by high-class professionals from whom you can’t hide a needle in a haystack, let alone an arrest for child kidnapping.

“How many arrests could a marriage survive?" Miranda asks herself next. But before she can submit to despair – with her upcoming marriage being a fraction from cancelling and the man she loves requesting they take a break – she is drawn into the whirlpool of family secrets her mother had been keeping from her all three decades of her life.

“Forever nineteen and a half. Itching to rev the engine and join the Revolution. Summer of 1968, so he would’ve been heading to Chicago, to the big demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention.” This is the image Miranda has of her father whom she’d never met. The father who died when she was six months old. The father whom her mom has raised her to worship as a hero.

I won’t lie: most of all, I enjoyed the story of Miranda’s parents. I’ve always been fascinated by family secrets that get uncovered by unsuspecting descendants. And the story of Judith and Jerry, living their youth during the turbulent epoch of the 60s in America, is absolutely fascinating.
I couldn’t really relate to Miranda, for the reasons why she lied to her fiancée didn’t become clear to me. But I found it extremely intriguing to follow her – often erratic and unreasonable – actions while she desperately tried to sort out the troubles in her own life and come to terms with revelations about her parents.

In "I Meant to Tell You" by Fran Hawthorne, timelines and characters’ lives interweave, making the reader look at the events from different angles and reassess them as they read on. The settings – New York of the 60s and Washington of the 2000s – came alive on the pages for me. I walked the streets of New York with protesters against the war in Vietnam and trudged the alleys in the US capital with anti-Iraq war demonstrators, feeling how similar every generation’s aspirations and worries are.



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I Meant to Tell You

Bereft: A Story about Love, Loss, and Family by M. A. Quigley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Why couldn’t we be like the string
And the kite
Roaming around carefree?"

Reading "Bereft: A Story about Love, Loss, and Family" by M. A. Quigley, this question echoed in my heart and didn’t let go. Why do people keep pushing themselves inside a box? Aren’t we already like a kite on the string, inevitably tethered to something, not completely free? Why should we invent new ties to keep us restrained – and unhappy?

Two people fall in love. The feelings are strong, fuelling young bodies and ardent souls. A girl and a boy want to be together, and nothing should have stopped them. Still, every generation invents new limits to be put on the most intimate of spheres of life – relationships.

These two, who might have been meant to be together on some level above human control and understanding, aren’t supposed to form a beautiful union called family in the society of Australia back in the 70s. His and her families are against their relationship and will not stop until the love they consider wrong is destroyed.

"Beliefs floated above his head
Like grey clouds threatening rain"

He turns out to be weaker than she. She persists in fighting for their love despite the ominous clouds her parents have turned her life into. He is less resilient. When he sees her, he can’t resist the pull of love. Alas, when they are apart, he falls under the influence of those who tell him their love cannot be.

"We communicated in silence
Even when we were alone
We starred in our own motion-picture show"

This tragic story, told in a mesmerising, poetic language, captivated me. It drew me into the life of struggle – unfair and useless, and because of this, even more piercing – two people in love had to live instead of a life full of joy, hope, and light. It could have turned out differently as well. But the love that hasn’t been given a chance to be tested is always incomparably sadder than the love tested and failed.






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Bereft: A Story about Love, Loss, and Family

Just Jonathan by Donna Scuvotti

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Dreams shattered by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

That’s what happened with Jonathan at the vulnerable age of thirteen. In one moment, his perfect life crumbles and turns into a nightmare. After his mother gets killed in a car accident, he finds himself thrown out of the warm cocoon of a loving family. "It was so traumatic that it burned the childhood right out of me, which was unfortunate because now I felt like I couldn’t relate to anyone my age."

The experience is even more traumatic since Jonathan is left alone to cope with his grief. Although his father isn’t dead, the way he treats the situation and his son almost makes it worse that he’d stayed alive. "He went from being the best Dad in the world to not even caring if we had food in the house or wondering where I was."

"Just Jonathan" by Donna Scuvotti tugged at my heartstrings and stirred many a memory from my own past.

I could deeply relate to what Jonathan has to go through in this story. The feeling of your perfect life shattering into a million pieces is familiar to me. One summer, you are still a happy child surrounded by a loud, loving, and caring extended family. Everything is just like it’d been for the first decade of your life. And then, the next summer your life crumples and shrinks, and nothing gets back to what it was ever again.

I lost my best friend when I was about the same age as Jonathan. For me, it was both bewildering and shattering. Bewildering because until then, I hadn’t encountered death, let alone the death of someone so close. She wasn’t simply a friend, one of the company of jolly teenagers hanging in school corridors between classes. She was that only person who talked to me when I arrived at the new school. With all my friends with whom we had been together since kindergarten left behind, dumbfounded by the realisation that from now on, I have to make a whole journey to get to school – twenty minutes by train followed by an even longer walk – instead of simply crossing the road, I felt completely lost. Anna didn’t let me feel this way for long. As soon as I appeared in the classroom doorway, she approached me, asked my name and offered to sit together. I hadn’t fit in until graduation – bookish kids would understand – but at least I didn’t feel unhappy and forlorn. Thanks to Anna. A few years later, there was an incident – one of many; working with children, people stop paying too much attention to them I guess – a classmate hurt Anna, she went home and spent some time not attending school. And then, I called her, wishing to ask when she was going to be back, and her mother picked up the phone and said that Anna was gone… I was devastated. I couldn’t even gather the courage to tell my aunt and mom that my best friend died. How can you put into words something that you aren’t able to understand?

Little did I know back then that it was only the first experience of losing someone dear and important to me. In the next few years, I lost my father and my two loving aunts.

“Just Jonathan” is a real treat for everyone who loves animals. Only the person who adores animals could have described how profound the therapeutic impact of having them around can be. The author has managed to do it masterfully. I loved Sydney the golden retriever and wouldn’t mind cuddling up with Luke’s calico cat.

The story makes an unexpected turn when Jonathan meets Luke. Their first meeting already felt like a life-changer but in a way completely different from what Jonathan could imagine. And from there, a rollercoaster of events and revelations starts.

I don’t want to spoil the experience of unwrapping this story for you, so I’d better leave it here. I’ll only add that “Just Jonathan” is the book that will surprise you, for it will lead you to the paths you don’t expect you’ll be treading when you start reading.




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Just Jonathan

Gods of Another Kind by Steven Decker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Gods of Another Kind” by Steven Decker is an ultimate adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat – even after you finish reading.

The third instalment of the Another Kind series introduces a new main character, and I couldn’t but immediately fall in love with him. Seriously, who wouldn’t if you met a guy who lives in the woods with nine dogs and a cat? Well, probably a lot of people would run away screaming if the meeting occurred in real life or raise their eyebrows when reading, but I was instantly smitten, since I adore animals and it really bugged me that my husband hadn’t been a fan of four-legs miracles until he capitulated under the full-blasted charm of our cat Peach. He is ten now, and I am ashamed but at the same time ridiculously ecstatic to admit that he prefers my husband’s company to mine. The capitulation can be called irrevocable and final, for we have two cats, my husband being the main motivator behind taking on board Peach’s sister Honey two years ago.

Okay, enough about pets. This review isn’t about them. Just like the book isn’t about Zach’s dogs and One-eyed Jack the cat, even though the author introduces us nicely to the whole pack at the beginning. The story is about… It is about so many – exciting, intriguing, and mind-blowing – things that I don’t know where to start.

So, “Gods of Another Kind” begins by introducing us to a new character – and his dogs, and a cat. Zachary Hurts, fifty-two, a loner, unmarried, living in the woods for the last three decades and quite satisfied with this kind of life. Until an unexpected encounter – imagine meeting a naked lady taking a swim in the lake you consider your own while you walk your dogs – turns his routine upside-down.

And from there, for Zach, begins an incredible adventure after which neither he himself nor the world he knows will ever be the same again.

The author draws vivid pictures of interstellar travel, inhabitants of other planets, their lifestyle and beliefs, and the worlds he creates on the pages of his books pull the reader in with the gravitation you can’t resist. Reading “Gods of Another Kind” made me contemplate how seamlessly people can be made to accept things that should have caused repulsion.

The world of Aria we get to travel in this book is a fascinating example of the power of self-assurance bordering on self-righteousness. Arians have built what looks like a perfect society based on transparent – and thus, just – rules. But is it truly so? And is everyone happy with the current arrangement? That’s what Zach and Gwen – not simply a strong, independent woman but also ex-President of the United States – have to find out. And try not to get killed or worse while they are at it. The first obstacle they have to overcome is to score enough on the Human Purity scale. My first reaction was indignation, of course, but then, the thought came: aren’t we already being measured by a somewhat similar scale? To be considered a decent member of society, don’t we have to comply with certain requirements, otherwise we are labelled with degrading epithets.

“Gods of Another Kind” doesn’t leave time to catch one’s breath between the chapters. Fasten your seatbelts, make sure you know where the air masks are, and prepare for a mind-bending interstellar journey.

P.S. And watch out for Alfred – Al – when you are near the ocean on Aria. A beast he might be, but he will surprise you.




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Gods of Another Kind

The Trouble with Friends: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Kelly Miller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The Trouble with Friends” is a charming “Pride and Prejudice” variation by Kelly Miller. Like all author’s works, this story is a delightful combination of what Jane Austen and Regency romance fans love and a few twists and turns that make the read more exciting and fit for the modern readers’ taste.

Miss Elizabeth Bennet finds herself in an awkward situation with Mr Lockhart, a man who appears in the neighbourhood, together with other noble gentlemen – all eligible bachelors. It wouldn’t be the Lizzy we all know and admire if she had behaved like a faint-hearted miss under such circumstances. Of course, she chooses the right and not the appropriate thing to do. Little does she know then how her choice will complicate her life when the complications are the last things she needs.

Although minor, Mary Bennet and Robbie – Lizzy’s cocker spaniel – are my favourite characters in this novel. I have a confession to make. I have always felt sorry for the plain and bookish Bennet sister, for I could relate to her. In my teens, I was the one with the book rather than attending dance parties with my classmates. I even had a major argument with my best friend over my obsession with reading. All I wanted after returning from school was to dive back into the world of the book I was reading at the moment. But my friend wanted us to go for a walk and chat about boys. Anyway, it always bothered me that Mary hadn’t gotten to a suitor in the original “Pride and Prejudice”. And it felt highly gratifying to see how life turned out for her in “The Trouble with Friends”.

Another favourite of mine is Mrs Bennet. She might be seen as ill-mannered and too loud for the standards of that era’s high society, but she is sincere and not hiding behind the façade of a refined lady. It doesn’t make her daughters’ lives easier, though. In addition to their lack of wealth, boisterous Mrs Bennet is a serious obstacle on their way to getting a husband.

“The Trouble with Friends” was an utter joy to read. We get to see Mr Wickham demonstrating his wickedness – which Jane Austen couldn’t afford to portray, with rules of propriety being too strict also for literary works – and we get to see Lydia’s naivete bordering on stupidity. The author also has prepared a few unexpected plot twists swerving from what the readers expect in a “Pride and Prejudice” variation.

I am looking forward to reading more books by Kelly Miller. I would be ecstatic to read variations of other Austen novels, for the author’s writing style is exquisite and her attention to the period details makes her books stand out from the works in this popular literary niche.






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The Trouble with Friends: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Fee Simple Conditional by H.C. Helfand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"I was, in the vernacular, a title gnome who slaved away in the galley of a Land Record office, surrounded by crumbling and musty books telling the tales of land ownership."

“Fee Simple Conditional” by H.C. Helfand opens a door into the most exciting world of…titles. If you aren’t an American lawyer practising land ownership law – or whatever it’s called correctly – you’ll probably be as surprised as I was to find out how much this short word – ‘titles’ – hides in its depths. As I read on Abigail’s story, I understood what titles mean from the context. But I still asked my husband who is indeed a lawyer – practising cross-border commercial law, not land law, though – if he knew what ‘titles’ were. Of course, he knew, like he knows millions of similarly peculiar law-related things. Anyway, the story isn’t about my husband’s extensive and my limited knowledge. It is about Abigail Fisher who loved land and what came out of that love.

"After a brief, excruciatingly failed stint working behind the cosmetic counter at Hutzler’s, a venerable department store, I managed to be hired by Dependable Title to do a job about which I knew nothing at all." And so begins Abigail’s exciting journey through the jungle of titles. Yes, it turns out to be exciting rather than boring, even though, at first glance, what thrill can be there, among the dusty folders containing deeds, contracts, official letters and whatnot that has something to do with land ownership rights. Abigail soon learns that these dusty books contain more than paper – they keep history. Sad and happy, intriguing and sometimes complex stories of lands, homes, and people.

As Abigail navigates through her unexpected career in Dependable Title, spending more and more time among the quirky inhabitants of the local Land Record office, she learns a few secrets she would have been happy not to ever uncover. Some are related to her job duties, while others turn her family life upside down.

“Fee Simple Conditional” was a pure delight to read. I love it when a book has a unique setting, and the author makes it into an almost separate character that becomes an integral part of the story. But often, probably due to the publisher’s technical requirements or, in some cases, the author’s creative vision, the setting fades into the background. I am always disappointed when it happens, as it happened, for example, with “Airport” and “Hotel” by Arthur Hailey. It is, of course, my subjective perception of the aforementioned and highly acclaimed novels.

I’m looking forward to reading “Clear and Convincing Evidence”, book two of the compelling Arcadia Chronicles series.







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Fee Simple Conditional

Your Pick: Selected Stories by V.S. Kemanis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A good story either breaks the reader’s heart or makes it sing. An excellent story has the power to do both.

“Dust of the Universe”, a story from the short story collection “Your Pick: Selected Stories” by V.S. Kemanis, made my heart break into a million pieces, but it filled with light again by the time I finished reading it.

Demonstrating a profound knowledge of human nature – and various professions – the author doesn’t spare details to make us completely invested in every story.

Reading “Pianissimo, Fortissimo”, I mused again why I had left playing the piano behind. I got my answer. “Whether alone or with an orchestra, I have no separate existence. My body should not be seen. I’m no more than an instrument of the voice speaking through me.” I’d never felt this way when playing. I’d always been conscious about my performance and worried about making mistakes. When music is your true calling, the pull of the melody and the instrument overshadows any worries. The feeling of complete immersion is beautifully described in this heart-wrenching and at the same time uplifting short story.

“Rosemary and Reuben” is a surprising dive into the inner life of the couple – let’s say, that doesn’t fit into the traditional expectations of how lovers arrive at the “happily-ever-after” station. Have you heard about hyperosmia and hypergeusia before? Even if you had, I doubt you can imagine how these unpleasant conditions can help find one’s true love.

“He’s learned to remain quiet. Honesty doesn’t require more, and self-explanation is useless when the recipient will never really understand.” Some say that other people are like open books. Others that they are a mystery. Arthur in “Reckoning” believes that he will never be understood by others. So, he stopped trying to make them see beyond his shell. “Arthur learned this hard lesson years ago, when his youthful exuberance fell on deaf ears and his colors met blindness and his ideas were received with blank smiles and speechlessness. Gradually, over time, he’s been shaped on the outside to resemble anyone else, a creeping crumble into grayness, while he continues to live on the inside, sending out tendrils of hope.” And what a life it is! Moderately successful and pedantic, Arthur doesn’t attract attention. But what if someone who lives in a similar shell manages to peek through the outer grey wall?

Each story from this collection is like a micro-universe, multi-layered and deep, hiding the lives ‘before’ and ‘after’, at the same time submerging the reader into the present with vivid descriptions and details that make each character real. Every story, selected from the highly acclaimed and literary award-winning story collections, reveals a moment in time for a person, a family, or a team of colleagues with a somewhat painful clarity. And because of this uncompromising exposure, we become participants - rather than readers - in each character’s life journey.



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Your Pick: Selected Stories