Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories
Jane Yolen
Open Road Integrated Media, Pub Date: Jun 18 2013
Sister Emily's
Lightship and Other Stories is a collection of Jane Yolen's short stories.
The title story is a "what if" look at Emily Dickinson, a poet from
Amherst, Massachusetts. Emily's eye and health issues force her to become a
recluse within her family home, venturing out only at night. The story brings
excitement and travel to her life through a visit from a being on a lightship.
Emily gains personal peace and perspective from her view of the earth from
space. This twist of reality explains the life of an otherwise private woman of
the Nineteenth Century.
Yolen's short stories in this collection often describe
situations in which the characters face moral and social dilemmas. Sometimes the
stories resemble fairy tales that often end in reality not “happily ever after”.
Readers will gain perspective and understanding from the stories. I read the
stories as comments on our society and its past that brought us to our present.
Her bold stories express life beyond the magic of fairy tales; humanity relying
on life skills, emotions and self-knowledge to persevere. Many times the
endings involve ironic twists of fate with the protagonist displaying stoic determination.
I recommend Sister
Emily's Lightship and Other Stories to you to challenge and spark your
thinking. As Yolen explores her topics, the author often emerges as narrator/commentator
to express a voice that often connects the stories. Jane Yolen is a gifted
storyteller and the images drawn in this collection are entertaining and
intriguing.
Read on!
Sue McFadden
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