A Summer Morning

I enjoyed this book, which did a great job showing the ebbs and flows of the dynamics of our closest personal relationships, as well as the ebbs and flows of the fortitude with which we face our personal struggles. Ms. Parrish is a deeply talented writer, and with this work, I simply w Every so often I’ve been blessed to come across a writer whose talent leaves me in awe. They practice their art so skillfully, so deftly that it’s like watching the baseball player with the graceful swing or the figure skater with fluid moves — it’s as if they were born to do that very thing. No doubt, lurking somewhere in their DNA is the generic blueprint of bards and troubadours of old. I must confess that, after reading “Jewel Box,” I would count Ms. Lee among them. This was the first work of hers I’d read and this collection of 22 short stories had me hooked from the get go. Whether it’s the scope and depth of her imagination, or the way that each story has a different voice and style (such that it’s hard to believe the same author wrote all of them), all I know is that each story was a delight, taking me on a journey to someplace new and unexpected. My sincerest thanks to Kensington Books for providing we with an ARC of this rich tapestry of short stories from one of the best writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. ish there was more. For me, it ended at the moment of a primary catalyzing event, and if you’re vested in the characters and story (which presumably the author wants), that’s a tough place to end it. I’m not saying that everything needs to be tied up neatly in a bow, but on the other hand there’s a difference between being open-ended and ending prematurely, and for me, this story fell into the latter category. Additionally, I would have liked to see more in terms of the relationship between Timothy and his son Mark — Mark was barely a blip on the radar, quite thinly sketched, even though the discovery of his existence is supposed to be a driving force in the plot. By contrast, Timothy’s relationship with his business partner Harcourt has far more substance. Yes, I understand that Timothy doesn’t know his son, so there’s no history there, but Mark doesn’t really register as a person in any meaningful way once he does appear. I also didn’t understand the point of the youngest sibling, Foster, who is described as being somber (so presumably there’s something behind that) but who only makes a cursory appearance. Why was his character necessary? Finally, I found some of the description a bit plodding, and the phrasing awkward at points (the latter may be due to typographical errors present in the ARC I read). Were I an editor, I would say to the author, “This is great work so far — keep going!” And I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Unsolicited Press and Mindbuck Media for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
PS I rarely comment on book descriptions, but I feel compelled to do so regarding the descriptions on both NetGalley and Goodreads. The description on NetGalley is a bit misleading, when it says “someone from his past returns with a secret that could ruin everything and Timothy slides into a slow-motion train wreck from which he might not recover.” In my opinion, the so-called “secret” and its aftermath doesn’t quite play out as melodramatically as the description would have you believe. And the description on Goodreads is a blow-by-blow plot synopsis that gives virtually the entire story away. Less is more, folks.