The Children's Corner
Not a book for children, but rather a collection of short stories dealing with loss of some kind, (emotional, spiritual, physical), The Children's Corner is a disturbing and thought-provoking, sometimes hilarious look at the human condition. Ranging from morbid to hysterical, these rare and occasionally bizarre glimpses into the human heart are deftly crafted jewels that show us the most labyrinthine recesses of the human psyche.
One story, “Christmas Comes but Once a Year,” is a humorous look at a series of Christmas letters gone awry, and a brilliant study in denial, while another, “Summer Music,” deals with a husband and wife coming to terms with prearranged infidelity. “Crook,” the only novella in this collection, tells the story of a nephew visiting his Alzheimer-ridden aunt and the plethora of memories that surface because of that experience.
The title story, “The Children's Corner,” centers around a series of lies and the ramifications that these reckless verbal fabrications have on an aspiring teenage pianist in a small Mississippi town. The settings for the stories range from the rural South to the Midwest, and from New Orleans to the trendy Connecticut town of Westport. All the characters are fallible and distinctive, and McCrae shows us how each and every one of us, no matter who we are or where we live, have angels and demons to wrestle with.
The Children’s Corner is still available, directly through the publisher. Signed copies are $100.00. Unsigned copies are $21.95 plus shipping. Ships only inside U.S. Contact the publisher at enolam dot com for more information.
