Love Stories in This Town

Elissa Harbert, Claudia's daughter

I greatly enjoyed reading Amanda Eyre Ward's collection of short stories, Love Stories in This Town. The stories are all thoroughly engaging, and they ring with the truth of real life. Ward's language is both familiar and evocative, pulling you into the minds of her characters and the complexities of their circumstances. I was relieved that the stories are not sentimental tearjerkers, as so many short stories tend to be. Many have a tinge of realistic sadness, but they explore all sorts of emotions, often lingering on quiet moments of contentment. Her tales of the glee of new love and the joys of a strong marital relationship make the book a true pleasure to read.

The first half of the book is a set of unconnected stories about women and the men and children they love. Reading each story in the first half feels like being in the middle of a great novel. You quickly become comfortable with the characters, and their situations are clear and multi-dimensional almost from the first page of each story. I enjoyed all six of the stories in part one, but especially "The Stars Are Bright in Texas," which is one of the most honest and poignant stories in the collection.

The second part of the book is a set of episodes in the life of a young woman named Lola. Although each story is told from a different perspective, they have a strong feeling of continuity and evolution as the character grows and changes. By the end of the book, I desperately wanted to continue reading about Lola and her family, and Ward suggests in the concluding interview that she hopes to wrote a novel about Lola at some point. Let's hope she does!

I believe you will all enjoy this clever and welcoming set of stories. I was quite impressed with the book and plan to read more of Ward's writings. She's very talented and her characters touch my heart.