“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct a refuge for yourself from almost all the miseries of life.” W. Somerset Maugham, English author, 1874-1965 Nancy J. Allen lures the reader into a new world with stories that evoke strong emotional responses. The book’s cover design and title are a warning - this collection explores the darker side of human nature.
I could feel the strong sunlight and imagine the dusty terrain of an ancient chapel in Crete that Fran Henley visits with her husband when I read Stolen Boy. The trip prompts Fran to reflect on her life in the Land of Enchantment and her marriage.
Fran’s physical disability means that she will never fulfill her lifelong dream of discovering relics from ancient civilizations. But she can work at the Albuquerque School of Art and Design introducing high school students to art and archeology. Eduardo Gonzalez is one of the promising artists she tries to recruit. Fran drives from Albuquerque to Fort Sumner to visit the Gonzalez’ family.
The young artist sits, head bowed, while his parents listen to the offer of a scholarship. Eduardo hopes that his talent will allow him to escape his parents’ plan - a life devoted to the family Sheetwork business.
Fran remembered Eduardo’s parents’ reaction “You’d have thought I was trying to kidnap their son—when all I wanted to do was save him!”
Volunteering at the Mountain View Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections elicits painful memories for Emmy Lou McCracken. The electric thump of the gate unlocking reminds her of the psych ward where her son has been incarcerated for 12 years.
“In an instant, she is there again, in Parkland’s halogen glare with Andy’s thin cries, These aren’t my hands, my real hands are smaller,” from Gospel of New Eyes.
Other stories focus on the effects of learning disabilities, wilderness backpacking, mental health, Roswell in the 1950s and teenage angst, death, lifelong friendships, the ongoing effects of the Vietnam War, religious fanaticism, and living with brain damage.
“The minute the door closed, Lucy stopped kicking and screaming. Her body quivered, various muscles jumped, her throat jerked small sounds, but she made herself lie still,” from Eat You Up.
In Real Life, a young man’s experiences working in a mortuary feed his fantasies about death and the beauty of bright red blood flowing from the sacrificial victims of Mayan rituals. Bogie often dreams about Bird Jaguar, a Mayan king from the ancient city of Yaxchilan, in present-day Chiapas, Mexico.
Before he met Georgina, the farthest Bogie had ever traveled was to Corpus Christi, Texas. Now he finds himself in Guatemala as a tour guide to ancient Mayan sites.
“Bogie felt they were in a movie, the six of them, sitting in a dugout canoe moving slowly upstream against a strong current, the wide river overhung on both sides with dense foliage . . .”
The Adventures of a Corn Maiden is a collection of three short stories: Alvarado, Mezzanine, and Galisteo.
This triptych follows Rhyme’s life from early childhood to boarding school, life in a commune, an unplanned pregnancy, marriage, and her later years in Taos.
Rhyme recalls her daughter’s birth and short life, “They’d let her hold Maren, swaddled to hide the spina bifida, and she traced the perfect face with her fingertips, thinking how like her mother’s it was.”
Forty years later she returns to Taos - the sole heir of unexpected wealth.
“Rhyme noted their gestures, but her mind slid off their words: the snakeoil liturgy of easy money,” from Galisteo.
These stories touched on many of my own experiences. I was thirteen when my best friend ended our friendship; I have hiked dusty trails exploring ancient sites in New Mexico and in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. And I have faced the challenges of family illness, watched a grandchild learn to live with a learning disability, helped family members deal with mental illness, observed the ongoing legacy of the Vietnam War, and witnessed how the natural environment of the Southwest influences each of us.
“It is commonly assumed that stories spring fully formed from the mind of the creator, like Athena from the head of Zeus,” said Allen. “But if you are eighty years old and lucky enough to publish your first book, you know what a myth it is.”