A WALL OF BRIGHT DEAD FEATHERS

By Babette Fraser Hale

Publisher: Winedale Publishing

Pages: 216

Pub Date: March 1^st, 2021

Categories: Short Stories / Literary Fiction

Scroll for Giveaway!

Most are newcomers to the scenic, rolling countryside of central Texas whose charms they romanticize, even as the troubles they hoped to leave behind persist. Twelve stories highlight “the book’s recurring theme of desire—for freedom, for clarity, for autonomy, and for personal fulfillment … When women are alone, unencumbered and unbeholden to anyone, they engage in intense internal reflection and show reverence for nature—and during these scenes, Hale’s language is luminescent” (Kirkus Reviews).

Winedale Publishing | Brazos Bookstore | Amazon

Praise

“Hale shows a great respect for her characters and for the difficulty of their deceptively ordered existence, as well as for the problems they suffer because so much cannot be spoken.” — Francine Prose, on “Silences”

“A vivid set of tales about connection to other people and to the natural world…Hale’s lovely prose shows a keen eye for detail…” – Kirkus Reviews

A story doesn’t have to be lengthy to have an impact on the reader’s thoughts and emotions. That holds true with the short stories that are found within the pages of this book.

These stories are not intertwined other than the hopes of the various characters for a better life in one way or another. Set in south central Texas and covering a wide timeframe, we meet various men and women that have dreams and desires to improve their situation or to bring their family back together. As I read these stories, I could feel the various emotions, especially the pain, desperation, guilt, loneliness, and heartbreak they endured in the various situations.  The author was able to draw me into these stories in a way I never expected and I feel like that brought the stories alive as I read them. Some of the stories have hope embedded throughout which is a lift to the reader to understand that not all is lost.

I don’t think I can choose a favorite story since each touched me in a different way. There were several stories that I wanted to more about and wondered how situations might have played out. Would the family heal? Would they survive the war? Would they regain mental health? Would they find their new path?

The following lines spoke to me either because of the situation in the story or the description of the setting.

“Prisons don’t need walls, your head is a prison, your skull is a prison.”

“Today, it’s an entire end wall, a crazy quilt of bright dead feathers.”

“…she likes the way the soil feels, the smell of fertility and hope that surrounds her…”

“The slanting amber light of fall is sad. That’s all. It makes her sad.”

“He believes he has allowed no one to see the full scope of his desperation. Any sigh of confusion or uncertainty, and the fragile triangle of his small family will fragment.”

“But freedom requires more than an absence of abuse and ownership.”

“For a moment, breaking through, the sun spills glittering coins across the formerly leaden waves.”

This book is perfect if you just want to read a little at a time without becoming wrapped up in a storyline. While some stories are shorter than others, it is easy to put this book down once you have finished a story and let the emotions wash over you as you contemplate the meaning.

We give this book 4 paws up.

Babette Fraser Hale’s fiction has won the Meyerson Award from Southwest Review, a creative artist award from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, and been recognized among the “other distinguished stories” in Best American Short Stories, 2015. Her story “Drouth” is part of the New York Public Library’s digital collection. Her nonfiction has appeared in Texas Monthly, Houston City, and the Houston Chronicle. She writes a personal essay column for the Fayette County Record.

Website | Facebook | Blog

——————————————————————

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

TWO WINNERS each receive a signed bookplate

+ $20 Brazos Bookstore Gift Card to buy the book

 (US only. Ends midnight, CDT, 4/2/2021)

Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page

for direct links to each post on this tour, updated daily,

or visit the blogs directly:

blog tour services provided by