Alone With You

April 15, 2010
Following her critically acclaimed novel, "The God of War", Silver returns to her short story roots. Five of these eight stories have appeared before, three in "The New Yorker". The moving collection focuses on short periods of major impact, with the subject matter drawn primarily from parent/child relationships. In "Pond," Martha, a developmentally challenged 24-year-old, gives birth to a son. Martha's parents find their own relationship strained as they raise their grandson along with their adult/child daughter and see the boy achieve in ways that his mother never could. "Three Girls" presents sisters raising one another as their parents spend their days with a drink always at hand. When another family is stranded at their home while waiting for a tow truck, the sisters are painfully confronted with the shabbiness of their lives. "In the New World" introduces an immigrant family trying to make a place in this new land and to reconcile their values with those of their neighbors. VERDICT Short stories to be savored, these are recommended for a wide range of readers.Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.