This anthology of nine stories by Elizabeth McCracken will take the reader to strange places. Places where a mother who has lost her daughter never leaves the house again. A summer rental that is so filthy that the tenant spends his time cleaning and restoring it instead of finishing his novel. In the title story, a family moves their family to Paris for the summer in an attempt to bring their elder daughter back into the family as she is starting to stray in her teenage years. The ploy seems to work and she becomes part of the family again, walking with them and laughing and telling stories as they all did in past times. But she is still the teenager who wants to be free and sneaks out at night, finally coming to grief in a fall that leaves her in a coma.
Elizabeth McCracken is an author who is a must read for me. She has written three novels, The Giant's House, Niagara Falls All Over Again and Bowlaway. She has also written a memoir and three books of short stories. Her work has been acclaimed with several being longlisted or finalists for the National Book Award. Her short stories have been chosen for inclusion in 'best of' anthologies. She writes of characters who are going about their lives when heartache occurs and how they handle life altering occurrences. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.
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