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The Isle Of Youth: Stories (2013)

by Laura van den Berg(Favorite Author)

3.92 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0374177236 (ISBN13: 9780374177232)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

FSG Originals

review 1: An engaging collection of short stories all having to do with women who are kind of adrift in life. There is also a running theme of masks/false faces (literal and figurative). I thought the author did an excellent job creating very real characters in a relatively brief amount of words. I definitely felt engrossed in all of the stories, and enjoyed the way that none of them really ended in a neat or tidy way.
review 2: There's not a dud in this collection. All of the stories feature women, and my favorite is "The Greatest Escape," about the daughter of a woman whose career as a magician is floundering. The daughter eventually discovers the truth about her father, whom her mother has said was also a magician before he disappeared during a magic act when he ent... moreered an aquarium full of water and never returned. Another favorite is "Antarctica," a story about a woman who goes to the south pole to investigate her brother's death in an explosion. Like many of the other stories, "Antarctica" is a kind of mystery in which not much is solved. The title story is one that at first reminded me of "Twin Studies," by Stacey Richter, but "The Isle of Youth" is different. Like "Twin Studies," the twins in "The Isle of Youth" trade places. In this case, the reason is because one of the twins is having an affair with a married man who wants to take her to the Isle of Youth for one last fling before they call it off since his wife has been following his girlfriend. But there's a twist I love and don't want to give away, but it's a worthy read and unpredictable. Laura van den Berg's writing is clean with fairly short sentences that make for what seems like easy reading. But the stories have depth and will be loved by those who like literary short fiction. I totally recommend it. less

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