PositiveNecessary FictionPursell’s stories acknowledge female agency, where a woman is both author and hero and where fairytale endings are more like glimmers of hope ... Within those minimalist confines, Pursell can encapsulate an entire life, while a single sentence can cut like a knife. She capably carves out heartache and despair ... The collection leans more toward realism than fairytale and yet there are moments of whimsy and enchantment ... These 78 stories are not linked and yet the arrangement, the juxtaposition of one pressed against the side of another, creates a conversation. Then there are the echoes, recurring themes and motifs, and fractals. The mind wants to finish the story, find commonality, resolution, perhaps reconciliation.