Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
At the start of WWI, the Selective Service originally required males 21-30 to register; this was amended in August 2018 to allow men 18-45 to enlist. Read more about WWI history in On the Shore (see NOVELS), about the turmoil in an immigrant Jewish family when their son lies about his name and age to fight in the Navy. Although the story takes place a century ago, it evokes the hopes and struggles of today’s immigrants from all backgrounds.
My Amazon review of Seasonal Roads by L. E. Kimball (Rated 5): Linked stories of three people, four characters – L. E. Kimball’s web of stories introduces readers to four characters: Norna, her daughter Aissa, Aissa’s daughter Jane, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The tales, at once violent and tender, otherworldly and practical, are told slant, yet they pack a direct wallop. Likewise, these unusual women are as solid as the Northern Michigan earth, as insubstantial as its air, and as fluid as its water. Each thrives on solitude, yet they cling to their tenuous connections with one another and the men in their lives as tenaciously as the last oak leaf in December. So too will this haunting book cling to you.
While writing the story “Undark” (see STORIES) in which a fictional sister of one of Radium Girls paints floral designs on dishes, I researched the symbolic names of flowers. Here are a few familiar flower names (and their intriguing meanings): White Stargazer Lily (innocence restored to the soul of the deceased); Daffodils (a single means misfortune; a bunch signifies renewal and a fresh start); Alstroemeria (wealth, prosperity, fortune); Anemone (fading hope or anticipation); Hydrangea (heartfelt emotions; positive is gratitude, negative is heartlessness); Peony (compassion & good health or indignation & shame). Flower names, like the best fiction, can mean both one thing and the opposite. Read more about the Radium Girls and flower symbolism in BEHIND THE STORY.
