Intense and heartrending…
Lutman brings forth a collection of fourteen short stories that throws readers into the emotional lives of people escaping from life. Each story reveals the world of characters who have almost given up on life. Some of them succeed, others face heartbreak, and a few lucky ones find redemption. Frequently caught between hopeless despair and passing pragmatism, Lutman’s characters are as susceptible as they are intriguing. The stories vary in tone. In the Creek Bait, the protagonist struggles to decide a life path. Corporal Miller fights delusions and despair as he meets his end in The Great Cause. In A Pretty Hand, Cass Franklin struggles to come to term with his newfound freedom and his wife’s death after his release from jail. In Crossing the Great Divide, a husband has given up on his marriage while the wife refuses to acknowledge the failure of their relationship. In The Calf, the protagonist holds onto a dim hope and is unable to let go of the past. Colonel Hidalgo of the Ninth Regiment in The Blue Lady meets a shocking end on a train journey. The Padre is unable to see a ray of hope despite being a believer in Laughter for Padre. But it is Lutman’s characterization especially of beautiful, intense, and impossible female protagonists in stories that drive this book. Passionate and tragic, these stories chronicle the fragile characters’ inner agonised attempts to find a fraction of meaning in life. Despair, dejection, reminiscence, and a little hope run deep throughout the collection.
Creek Bait
by Richard Lutman
Buy now
New Meridian Arts
PUB DATE Jan. 30 2019
ISBN 9780999461754
PRICE $16 (USD)