Fractures: Family Stories By Budge Wilson

Fractures is a collection of twelve deeply affecting stories that address contemporary family relationships and dynamics through a child’s or teenager’s eyes. Although these stories (most of which are new to this collection) deal with difficult issues and themes—sibling rivalry, alcoholism, illness, child abuse and neglect—each offers powerful moments of revelation, even of redemption, as its protagonists seek out and connect with others. In “Like a Water Lily,”the neglected daughter of an alcoholic parent is offered the chance to see herself through different, and more caring, eyes; in “My War,”a girl cannot understand her fatherÕs refusal to talk about his experiences as a soldier until a pivotal event occurs in her own life; in “Fathers,”a teacher’s challenge allows two boys to acknowledge very different truths about their dads as well as themselves; while in “The Metaphor,”a girl’s connection to a teacher sharply and revealingly contrasts her relationship with her mother. These are haunting and entrancing stories that are immensely readable and satisfying.