Original and provocative… Gloriously engaging.
Walker creates poignant worlds shimmering with hope, pathos, trauma, and healing in this engrossing collection of short stories. Worn down by age, the 93-year-old protagonist of “At the Door” struggles with loneliness after his wife’s death. His hopelessness is balanced with the optimism of his outlook toward aging and life. In “India’s Passage,” a surgeon wrestles with guilt and trauma after losing a young patient to a supposedly uncomplicated surgical procedure. In “Nui Ba Den,” Walker explores old love, longing, infidelity, and old hurt. Challenging and evocative, “Resuscitation” celebrates medical professionals as COVID-19 wreaks havoc on people’s lives, examining what it means to be a healer. Enlightenment and introspection pervade these stories, shaping various protagonists and their lives. Walker is skilled when it comes to building his characters’ entire inner lives through scant details, and his evocative worldbuilding keeps the pages flying. With its repeated focus on individual struggles and issues of morality and mortality, the collection makes for a necessary reading.
The Doctor’s Dilemma
Short Stories
By Daly Walker
Grand Canyon Press
Coming soon