Falling Women and Other Stories Book Review

2015 Reading Challenge

40. Falling Women and Other Stories by Ellen Herbert
      Theme/Topic: book by a female author

Synopsis:
A collection of short stories about families in turmoil and children in peril, from a homeless mother forced to put her son in foster care to a suburban mother afraid of passing her water phobia to her son. Braxton, North Carolina is the where in these stories, an imaginary coastal town adjacent to Camp Corregidor, a stopover for recruits on their way to Vietnam and later to Iraq. Braxton is the home front, where citizens battle alcoholism, marital breakups, and scandal. In Braxton, when a sister or father does wrong, the whole family shares the blame. Even Braxton's babysitters are dangerous, snooping, stealing secrets - and husbands. But love abounds. Sisters driven apart by scandal reunite when their father remarries. The babysitter who ran off with the mayor is welcomed back into her family when she returns to Braxton pregnant. A woman on the verge of being committed to an asylum for alcoholism is pulled back from the brink by a devoted friend.

My Review:
If I'm going to be honest, I have to say that this is the first time that I get to review a family member's book as this is my aunt. Regardless, I'm going to do this like any other book review.

Falling Women and Other Stories is a collection of twelve short stories. I enjoyed a few. I thought they were compelling and some were funny. A couple others just weren't my cup of tea. With those, I thought they dragged just a bit and lacked interest.

Instead of reviewing each story individually, I'm going to list them all and point out my favorites:

The World as I Know It
When the Forsythia Blooms
Higher Ed
The Calling
Jazzland
The Yellow Sneakers
Falling Women
The Hurdlers
Prodigal Pirates
Goalkeeping
The Bad Thing That Happens to Good People
To Hold But Not Touch

I've listed them in the order that they are in the book. The ones highlighted in blue are the ones I enjoyed the most.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

Short Stories Review

2015 Reading Challenge
 

11. Short Stories by Edith Wharton
      Theme/Topic: a book of short stories

This is a compilation of seven of Edith Wharton's short stories. I'm going to list them in the same order they are in the book and a brief synopsis.

1. "Expiation" - satiric revealing story about the publishing industry, featuring a writer determined to increase the sales of her first novel

2. "The Dilettante" - a young man who prides himself on his ability to manipulate women must face ironic consequences when he introduces his fiancée to his supposed lover

3. "The Muse's Tragedy" - a woman whose reality differs from her public persona 

4. "The Pelican" - another woman whose reality differs from her public persona

5. "Souls Belated" - a tragedy of mores, focuses on characters overcome by the demands of convention

6. "Xingu" - witty satire on the intellectual pretensions of a group of rich women

7. "The Other Two" - a darkly humorous look at the consequences of divorce

Instead of doing separate reviews on each story, I'm going to list them in order from my favorite to least favorite.

                                                       1. "Expiation"

                                                       2. "The Other Two"

                                                       3. "The Dilettante"

                                                       4. "Xingu"

                                                       5. "The Muse's Tragedy"

                                                       6. "Souls Belated"

                                                       7. "The Pelican"

 

Have you read any of Edith Wharton's works, either short stories or novels?

The list for the reading challenge can be found here.
 

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

Meg