An American scientist, lecturing on cholera in Bombay, visits a makeshift hospital and makes a decision that will change her life forever. A carpenter sits in the Australian beach house he built for his adored wife, hearing strange noises in the walls. An aid worker in war-torn Africa watches, powerless, as a mission church, filled with people, is burned to the ground.
John Murray's extraordinary stories unfold to reveal whole lives - people caught between the past and the present, between different cultures, and between their intellect and emotions. Muscular, atmospheric, by turns hilarious, horrifying and unbearably moving, these stories show their author to be a formidably talented writer.
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In the title story, a doctor mourns the loss of his sister and comes to terms with his family history, all the while examining butterflies. In "Blue", a climber ascends a Himalayan peak under dire circumstances and encounters ghostly memories of his father. These stories of frustrated, intelligent achievers can recall Mark Helprin, and Murray has, too, some of Helprin's ambitious scope. These stories aren't as crystalline as Helprin's, but that's a small complaint to lodge about an elegant first collection. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com
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