A group of women contemplate violence after they're sent into foreign territory to make husbands of the enemy. A support network of traumatized joggers meets to discuss the bodies they've found on their runs. And a town replaces its Confederate monument with a rotating cast of local residents. Slippery but muscular, sly but electric, this stunning debut collection moves from horror to magical realism to satire with total authority. In these stories, characters build and remake their sense of home, be it with one another or within themselves.
Norris’s ruminative characters drift through their communities and lives like ghosts, free to roam and ponder their haunts yet fixed in space ... In different styles and tones, Norris and Key share an interest in the ways that being bound — to an event, to an act, to a place — shapes notions of freedom. Norris’s stories largely center on collectives ... Norris slinks between genres and forms across the collection, from literary fiction and magical realism to satire and a ghost tale. But her storytelling isn’t always as accomplished as her lithe and polished writing.
Vivacious ... The sheer variety of genres, settings, and subjects means that the collection resembles a tasting menu—a showcase of the range of this debut writer. It will be exciting to watch her talent develop. This is perfect for fans of Danielle Evans.
