The Beautiful Indifference: Stories (P.S.)
Something unexpected from Sarah Hall (The Electric Michelangelo, 2005; How to Paint a Dead Man, 2009): a collection of short, realistic (mostly), contemporary stories. Hall&#x2019;s women are cheated on, broken up with, sick, bored, lonely; and her writing pulls the reader into subtly rendered but deeply felt worlds. From a young outcast taken in by a wild, local family to a housewife who secretly joins a sex club, the stories show off a mastery of a wide variety of tones and voices. All but two of the seven stories take place in England, and Hall stretches her chops as she goes further afield. An encounter with a stray dog on an African beach becomes a possibly-paranormal revenge story; a swim in a Finnish lake becomes an edgy nightmare. The strongest story in the collection, &#x201C;The Nightlong River,&#x201D; evokes a historical, rustic north of England and the loneliest act of friendship you&#x2019;ll ever read. American readers who cut their teeth on Joyce Carol Oates&#x2019; Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? (1993) will want to give this collection a try. --Susan Maguire