The Missing

by Tory Tuttle

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Pub Date May 20 2023 | Archive Date Oct 24 2023

Contingency Street Press | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles

Literary Fiction | Novellas & Short Stories | Women's Fiction

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Description

Each of the seven stories in Tory Tuttle's luminous first collection explores dislocation, whether from losing a child or the protection of a parent, or as a strategy to escape reality. A mother measures the distance growing between herself and her first child, who lived only three weeks; a teenager runs away from abuse, detention, and the indifference of her mother; a janitor’s hold on reality dissolves after witnessing the murder of a child; a traveler, lacerated by the death of her sister, seeks solace through flight; a lonely woman whose child was stillborn experiences the world through daily bus rides; a woman is abandoned by her lover and her mother, though in drastically different ways; a wife protects her children by finally leaving her abusive husband. These uniquely rendered portraits, often impressionistic, depict the accommodations one makes to survive a world frequently inhospitable to human desire and longing.

Each of the seven stories in Tory Tuttle's luminous first collection explores dislocation, whether from losing a child or the protection of a parent, or as a strategy to escape reality. A mother...

A Note From the Publisher

eBook: 9781958015032

Advance Praise

BookLife, Editor’s Pick:

Tuttle’s debut, a slim volume of seven moving short stories, explores the hazy realms between the real, the imagined, and the experienced worlds… Tuttle’s language is evocative, and her prose draws its power from the seamless blending of the senses… an immersive read that leaves a lingering sadness in the reader’s mind… Poignant short stories of people living on through traumatic events.

Foreword Clarion, four stars:

In Tory Tuttle’s introspective short story collection The Missing, people who live on the unstable margins experience cruelties from others… Throughout the stories, people face forms of loss and become numb, even as they maintain their everyday rituals… Their psychological frailty is haunting, and the absences that they experience lead to invisible parallel stories that prompt sometimes unnerving reflections… Filled with crossroad reckonings and populated by sensitive women whose lives are unraveling, The Missing is an insightful short story collection in which people contend with feelings of isolation.

Blueink Review:

In this collection, Tory Tuttle’s seven stories give readers a bird’s-eye view of lives where something that should be part of the picture has been erased. Her characters are the people never seen in happy sitcom openings and toothpaste ads. They are, as the title explains, dealing with the missing… Each of the stories succeeds… Every character has an energy and vocabulary that matches their emotional intelligence, creating stories that stand as a singular testament… The Missing provides a meaningful reading experience presented by an imaginative new author.

Kirkus Indie:

Tuttle’s debut short story collection finds its characters sifting through loneliness and dissociation in their somber lives… Tuttle’s masterful dialogue surprises time and again, as seemingly trivial conversations deliver profundity… A notable theme of motherhood crops up throughout; “112 Months” may be the book’s most heartfelt offering, but other characters also experience intense emotions tied to pregnancy and experience self-isolation. The sole downside to this superlative book is that it’s too brief, but these stories are likely to hold up to multiple readings… Dark, sometimes despairing tales that inspire and impress.

BookLife, Editor’s Pick:

Tuttle’s debut, a slim volume of seven moving short stories, explores the hazy realms between the real, the imagined, and the experienced worlds… Tuttle’s language is...