Welcome to Litsy!

185. One day the postcards stopped. The military had discharged her for bad conduct. She just disappeared. At the playground behind my house I crawled into strange women‘s laps, snuck into their brood of children, slipped my hand, unnoticed, into theirs. I can remember how the startled mothers‘ expressions rearranged when they discovered it was my hand they held—a look of pity mixed, consistently, with repulsion. No one wants a changeling.

Short story collection centered in Maine. First few stories lack risk and conviction. Too many seem to float and drift. Some feel repetitive in theme and execution. Lots of road trips, attempts at escape. Melancholy that doesn‘t reach meaning. “Werewolf” is a fave: self-doubt, childhood memories, appearances, guilt over false accusations. “Changeling,” search for mother figure. Childhood, mental health, guilt, sex, deceit, trauma, parenting. 2016

Solid collection of stories. Each one a careful, devastating character study of a woman existing between who she has to be and the emotions she is experiencing. I was drawn to the Maine setting, but these women might exist anywhere. Girls caught between nice boyfriends and wild desires, abandoned daughters' misdirecting their love and rage, confused sisters, broken mothers and so on.
#moubttbr

We don't have a bookstore (independent or otherwise) in my town. Last week, I served as a juror in a nearby NC city that has an independent bookstore. This week, I was visiting my sweet aunt in a GA town that has an independent bookstore. This book haul makes my heart swell.

I was torn...the language and imagery are genuinely effecting, and I don't mind that many of these stories lack a definitive conclusion. But it wasn't until I read the final 4 stories that it pulled together for me. That said, it did come together, so much so that I'm still thinking about it weeks later.

Full review here: https://cleverboots.net/2017/03/22/on-being-uncomfortable-good-night-beautiful-w...

Quiet, powerful short story collection, reminiscent of Bonnie Jo Campbell's grit & grace. In rural Maine, the women in these stories deal w/harsh realities of growing up: poverty, illness, loss, mental illness, & sexual violence. Yet within their stories lie powerful messages about family, shame, suffering, sexuality, & female agency & connection, which Noyes teases out w/lovely, heart-stopping prose that is distant yet full of empathy & love. 🌌

I still have no game plan for #24in48, but I kind of feel like I can't go wrong with anything I get to read from this pile this weekend!

Not quite stories, more like explorations of very specific moments in the lives of these characters. How they deal with sexual molestation, sexual awakening, the decisions they make-that's what Noyes explores. Endings are ambiguous because in life, do we ever really "resolve" these things?

I'm craving a good short story. A story that makes me linger over the words and savor each emotion. A story that lets me glimpse someone's world so precisely I'm left wondering how to get back to that world after the story ends. Let's see if this collection brings it ...

Short stories centered around women's sexual awakening and their first relationships. The writing is exceptional, but the stories don't have a defined ending. Theyre more like novel excerpts or writing exercises. I would get invested and then want to yell, "No! Don't go!" at the abrupt closing.

I got this ARC today! So excited! I feel like a poser on Netgalley, so I'm always flattered when a publisher deems me worthy.

Normally don't love short stories as I get attached to characters, but her writing.... Wow.

Well this is gorgeous.