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.
Henry VIII fathered an unknown number of children but acknowledged only seven as legitimate, among them Elizabeth I. He annulled two of his six marriages, beheaded two wives, and was the last Henry to head England. For the story of another bad dad, read The Great Stork Derby, based on an actual contest in which a husband pressures his wife to have babies for cash and, fifty years later, learns the true meaning of fatherhood. Read more about the book in NOVELS.
My Goodreads and Amazon review of Blood Up North by Fredrick Soukup (Rating 5) – Hope Among the Hapless. Some people are bad; others are stupid. Some folks try to be good or smart but keep messing up. That sums up the hapless characters in Fredrick Soukup’s gritty, lowdown, yet often hilariously over-the-top novel Blood Up North, whose body count threatens to rival Hamlet. Don’t trust anything anyone says because they’ll change their story by the next page, if not the next paragraph. Cassie, the plucky protagonist, seems to have learned this, but out of her inherent kindness and/or search for love, she occasionally appears gullible. Whether she actually is, or merely joins every other character in taking the rest for a ride, readers will have fun following the plot’s convoluted twists and turns, even if, like me, you lose track of where they’ve been or might be going. As a fiction writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire Soukup’s ingenuity and ability to sustain the story’s momentum. What ultimately steers this book and makes readers care about the outcome is Cassie. She’s tough yet surprisingly vulnerable, competent with lapses of helplessness, a veritable venison stew of unresolvable parts. The girl has been dealt a lousy hand and deserves to outwit her tormentors, who are motivated by greed, revenge, and male ego. Root for her. You’ll be rewarded in the end.
In Never Mind, a work of auto-fiction by Edward St. Aubyn, the father in an aristocratic family is manipulative, sexually abusive, and alternately cruel and apologetic. The cost to his son is depression and heroin addiction. For the story of another bad dad who messes up his kids, read The Great Stork Derby, based on an actual contest in which a husband pressures his wife to have babies for cash and, fifty years later, learns the true meaning of fatherhood. Read more about the book in NOVELS.
Reading a review of concert pianist Jeremy Denk’s memoir Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story in Music Lessons, I wondered how a composer knows what note, chord, or musical phrase on which to end a piece. That led me to ponder how a writer knows just the right the word, phrase, or sentence with which to conclude a narrative. Satisfying musical and literary endings achieve two goals. They resolve what has come before, offering a sense of inevitability that the ending is exactly as it should be. Yet, that final note or word also resonates beyond the work. As a writer, I know when I’ve “landed” the ending. I don’t have a map or GPS to steer me. I simply trust that I’ll eventually get there. See more thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.
Failed dictator Joseph Stalin failed as a father too. After his son Yakov’s unsuccessful suicide attempt, Stalin mocked him, “He can’t even shoot straight.” When Yakov was captured by the Red Army, Stalin refused to trade a German officer to save him. Yakov died in a concentration camp, reportedly by throwing himself onto an electric fence. For the story of another bad dad, read The Great Stork Derby, based on an actual contest in which a husband pressures his wife to have babies for cash and, fifty years later, learns the true meaning of fatherhood. Read more about the book in NOVELS.
Glen Waddle, in Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, repeatedly and violently rapes his preteen step-daughter, once so badly he breaks her bones. A grim tale of poverty and misogyny that asks whether women can save the day. For the story of another bad dad — who tries to break a baby-making record — read The Great Stork Derby, based on an actual contest in which a husband pressures his wife to have babies for cash. Fifty years later, he learns the true meaning of fatherhood. Read more about the book in NOVELS.
Jack Torrance in Stephen King’s The Shining (played by Jack Nicholson in the film) breaks his son’s arm, loses his job, and when evil forces at a haunted hotel in the Rockies unleash Jack’s violent streak, he goes AWOL and tries to murder his family. For the story of another (not quite as) bad dad, read The Great Stork Derby, based on an actual contest in which a husband pressures his wife to have babies for cash and, fifty years later, learns the true meaning of fatherhood. Read more about the book in NOVELS.
My Goodreads and Amazon review of Joan is Okay by Weike Wang (Rating 5) – Joan is Thriving. Joan is Okay by Weike Wang is a case study of human connection and cultural heritage. The protagonist, Joan, is a physician and the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Coworkers, neighbors, and family members, notably her brother and sister-in-law, cannot understand why she has no desire to get married or have children. Even Human Resources at the hospital where she works forces her to take a six-week leave for the sake of her mental health, a requirement which is itself a source of stress. Some readers may find Joan odd or lamentable, but I identified with her self-contained contentment. While I can’t attribute this trait to my cultural background, the peculiarities of my own family taught me to depend on myself. Many readers can claim the same. Rather than being a defense mechanism, finding pleasure in one’s work or solitary pursuits can be a source of genuine satisfaction. Oddly, so-called loners are often more understanding of others’ needs for intimacy than vice versa. They can empathize with the socially connected and yet, like Joan, look at themselves and decide they are more than okay. They are thriving. As a novelist myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire Wang’s ability to render a seemingly distant person like Joan as a fully developed and wholly sympathetic character. Readers will also admire this sensitive and well-told portrait.
Upton Sinclair, author of the 1905 novel The Jungle which exposed the horrors of the meat-packing industry, was inspired by his friendship with Mother Jones, namesake of the magazine founded in 1976. Born in 1837, Mary Harris Jones was jailed for organizing workers and spurred tens of thousands to join labor unions. Her famous war cry was, “Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.” Read about an Italian immigrant women who works in a Chicago meat-packing plant in the early 1900s in the novel Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
Until the early 1900s, physicians practiced without degrees or regulations. Before science knew about germs, doctors moved between anatomy labs, medical wards, and operating rooms without washing their hands. As a result, women delivered by doctors were more likely to die of infection than those tended by midwives, who remained by each mother’s bedside. Read more about pregnancy and childbirth a century ago in the novel Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
