Reviewed by Emily Webber Tara Isabel Zambrano’s short story collection Death, Desire, and Other Destinations delivers on what it promises in the title. Zambrano highlights our desire for human connection and our yearning for the things we cannot have…
Review by Emily Webber In Kari L. O’Driscoll’s memoir, Truth Has a Different Shape, she assumes the role in her family, even as a young child, as the one to try to keep order and stability. The memoir begins…
Review by Emily Webber Even the luckiest people do not manage to get through life unscathed, and yet there are always moments of beauty and grace. The 38 small stories in Jayne Martin’s collection, Tender Cuts, reminds us of…
Review by Emily Webber Maria Giura’s memoir, Celibate, focuses on her decade-long relationship with a Catholic priest and her journey to find her true vocation in life. As a lifelong Catholic myself, one who has wrestled with my faith…
Review by Emily Webber Lisa A. Sturm’s debut novel, Echoed in My Bones, does not avoid the hard and complicated aspects of adoption, the foster care system, and dealing with past trauma. However, Sturm also manages to pull a thread…
Review by Emily Webber A Girl Goes into the Forest by Peg Alford Pursell shines light on the transitions and transformations we go through in life and the changing relationships between parents and children. In each of the…
Review by Emily Webber The title of Laura Rock Gaughan’s wide-ranging and engaging debut collection Motherish comes from the short story, “Woman Cubed.” Dale is a contortionist preparing for an upcoming performance where Cirque recruiters will be in the…
Review by Emily Webber “It starts with a face in a binder, CHILDREN AVAILABLE, reads the cover” (1). This is the first sentence of The Risk of Us, Rachel Howard’s remarkable debut novel. In the novel’s opening scene, the unnamed…