The Literary Fiction Shelf

The Ice Harp
Norman Lock
Bellevue Literary Press
www.blpress.org
9781954276178, $17.99, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Ice-Harp-American-Novels/dp/1954276176

Synopsis: In 1879, toward the end of his life, Ralph Waldo Emerson, known t= hroughout as the Sage of Concord, has lost his words. Beset by aphasia and = grief, Ralph Waldo Emerson is scarcely recognizable as America's foremost e= ssayist and orator.

To the dismay of his wife, he frequently entertains the specters of his fel= low transcendentalists, including Whitman, Thoreau, John Muir, and Margaret=
Fuller, and frets about the future of humankind and the natural world. Doe=
s the present displace the past? Do ideas always precede actions? What resp= onsibility does each of us bear for the downtrodden, the preservation of li= berty, and the Earth itself?

These metaphysical concerns become concrete when Emerson meets a Black sold= ier accused of killing a white man who abused him. The soldier's presence d= emands a response from Emerson, an action outside the parlors of philosophy=
and beyond the realm where language and logic hold sway.

"The Ice Harp", the tenth stand-alone book in The American Novels series by=
author Norman Lock is a poignant portrayal of a literary luminary coming t=
o terms with the loss of memory, the cost of inaction, and the end of life.

Critique: A deftly crafted and inherently fascinating fictional biography f= eaturing American literary legend Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Ice Harp" is a = memorable read and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and ac= ademic library Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for readers=
with an interest in an intriguing and philosophical work that is as intell= ectually entertaining as it is memorably thought provoking, "The Ice Harp" =
is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.09).

Editorial Note: Norman Lock (https://normanlock.com) is the author of novel=
s, short fiction, and poetry, as well as stage and radio plays. He has won = The Dactyl Foundation Literary Fiction Award, The Paris Review Aga Khan Pri=
ze for Fiction, and has been longlisted twice for the Simpson/Joyce Carol O= ates Prize. He has also received writing fellowships from the New Jersey St= ate Council on the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Nati= onal Endowment for the Arts.

Second Star
Phillippe Delerm, author
Jody Gladding, translator
Archipelago Books
https://archipelagobooks.org
9781953861542, $18.00, PB, 164pp

https://www.amazon.com/Second-Star-other-reasons-lingering/dp/1953861547

Synopsis: Ably and expertly translated into English for an American readers= hip by Jody Gladding, "Second Star: And Other Reasons for Lingering" by Fre= nch author Philippe Delerm is an impressive anthology of fourteen succinct = short stories offering literary snapshots.

Whether biting into a bitter turnip or savoring a summer evening in June, P= hilip Delerm's literary snapshots transport us to simple, often overlooked = sensations and pleasures, and, pausing, expand a moment or emotion outwards=
in concentric circles.

These evocative literary vignettes invite us to linger, to "savor the few m= oments of silence" -- as if each bite of a ripe watermelon, each exhaled br= eath on a bitterly cold day, each cloudy evening on the beach, were our las=
t.

Critique: A master of the short story format, Philip Delerm pursued literar=
y studies at Nanterre before becoming a teacher himself. In 1975 he taught = French Literature at the Marie Curie College (Secondary School) in Bernay. = Ironically, the first manuscripts which Delerm submitted for publication fr=
om 1976 were refused by publishers. But eventually with success as an autho=
r, Delerm ended his teaching career in 2007 in order to concentrate on his = writing full-time. With the publication of an English edition of "Second St= ar: And Other Reasons for Lingering" from Archipelago Books, this literary = short story collection is unreservedly recommended for personal, community,=
college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections.=
An inspiring series of lyrical meditations on life's smallest moments, fro=
m peeling a clementine, drinking a cold mojito, to washing your window, it = should be noted that "Second Star" is also available for students, academia=
, and the general public in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).

Editorial Note #1: Philippe Delerm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_= Delerm) was born in 1950 in a suburb of Paris. Delerm writes fiction, essay=
s, and children's books. His collection of essays La Premiere gorgee de bie=
re et autres plaisirs minuscules sold more than one million copies in Franc=
e and became a #1 bestseller. Delerm has published eleven books, including = "Autumn" which won the Prix Alain-Fournier in 1990.

Editorial Note #2: Jody Gladding (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/jo= dy-gladding) has translated the works of Elizabeth Deshays, Herve This, and=
Jean Giono, among others. She has written several books of poetry, includi=
ng the spiders my arms (2018). Gladding has been honored with a Whiting Wri= ters' Award, an Academy of American Poets Prize, a Centre National du Livre=
de France Translation grant and a French-American Foundation Translation A= ward, along with a MacDowell Colony fellowship, a Stegner Fellowship at Sta= nford, and a residency at The Frost Place.

Sidle Creek
Jolene McIlwain, author
https://www.jolenemcilwain.com
Melville House
https://www.mhpbooks.com
9781685890414, $17.99, PB, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sidle-Creek-Jolene-McIlwain/dp/1685890415

Synopsis: With the publication of "Sidle Creek" (a compendium of twenty-two=
short stories), author Jolene McIlwain skillfully interrogates the myths a=
nd stereotypes of the mining, mill, and farming towns where she grew up.

Jolene's stories take place in diners and dive bars, town halls and bait sh= ops, In her writing Jolene explores the themes of class, work, health, and = trauma, and the unexpected human connections of small, close-knit communiti= es. All the while, the wild beauty of the natural world weaves its way in, =
a source of the town's livelihood -- and its vulnerable to natural resource=
exploitation.

Critique: Original and carefully crafted with 'an alchemic blend of taut pr= ose, gorgeous imagery, and deep sensitivity for all of the living beings' "= Sidle Creek" each featured short story showcases author Jolene McIlwain's i= mpressive narrative driven storytelling skills. An entertaining, thought-pr= ovoking, and memorable read with each story being an extraordinary and memo= rable literary experience, "Sidle Creek" is especially and particularly rec= ommended for personal, community, and academic library Contemporary Literar=
y Fiction and Short Story Anthology collections. It should be noted that "S= idle Creek" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).

Editorial Note: Jolene McIlwain (https://www.jolenemcilwain.com) has been n= ominated for the Pushcart Prize and appeared in numerous literary journals,=
and in 2019's Best Small Fictions Anthology. Her work was named finalist f=
or 2018's Best of the Net, Glimmer Train's and River Styx's contests, and w=
as a semifinalist in Nimrod's Katherine Anne Porter Prize. She's taught lit= erary theory/analysis at Duquesne and Chatham Universities.

Home Bodies: Stories
Amy LeBlanc
Great Plains Publications
https://www.greatplains.mb.ca
9781773371016, $17.95, PB, 168pp

https://www.amazon.com/Homebodies-Stories-Amy-Leblanc/dp/1773371010

Synopsis: With the publication of "Homebodies", author Amy LeBlanc showcase=
s a compendium of her uncanny and ghostly stories that provoke dread, abjec= tion, and horror. The tales are intertwined and linked like a chain of drie=
d daisies or butterfly legs: someone you used to know is on trial for murde=
r. You work at a funeral home. Your dead grandmother calls you on the phone=
.. You pin and preserve butterflies on a corkboard as a strange girl knocks = on your door. You put a bike lock on the fridge. You sleepwalk. You attend =
a party. You get sick. You get an IV infusion. You don't get better. The st= ories in Homebodies show that you don't need a house to be haunted because = the body can do that all on its own.

Critique: Original, inherently fascinating, and with a narrative storytelli=
ng style that is ideal for Gothic fiction and the short story format, "Home=
Bodies" by Amy LeBlanc is comprised of sixteen memorable tales organized i= nto three major sections: The Fox; The Fever Dream; The Body. While a highl=
y recommended pick for community and academic library Contemporary Literary=
Fiction & Short Story Anthology collections, it should be noted for person=
al reading lists that "Home Bodies" is also readily available in a digital = book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Amy LeBlanc is a PhD student in English and creative writin=
g at the University of Calgary. She is the author of the poetry collection,=
"I know something you don't know" and the novella, "Unlocking". Her work h=
as appeared or is forthcoming in Room, Arc, CV2, Canadian Literature, and t=
he Literary Review of Canada among others. Homebodies is Amy's first short = story collection.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
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(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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