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Longing, revenge, fear, hope and, of course, love - Barbara Erskine's characters experience the full spectrum of emotions in this delightful collection of stories.Barbara Erskine is a born storyteller. Encounters brings together for the first time over forty tales to illustrate her extraordinary talent for capturing the spirit of a place and drawing us into the hearts and minds of her characters. Some are humorous, some thrilling, while others are unashamedly sentimental. Old fashioned love stories such as A Face in the Crowd follow ingenious ghost stories and in A Step Out of Time the past and present come together, drawing back the curtain that separates us from our ancestors.No one who has enjoved Barbara Erskine's bestselling novels - Lady of Hay, Kingdom of Shadows, Child of the Phoenix and Midnight is a Lonely Place - will be able to resist this captivating volume.
This collection of over forty short stories explores the intersection of human emotion and the lingering influence of the past. The protagonist in each tale faces a unique set of circumstances, ranging from romantic longing to encounters with the supernatural, as they navigate the thin veil between the present day and ancestral history. Erskine employs a variety of narrative frameworks, shifting between intimate character studies and atmospheric ghost stories to challenge the boundaries of time and memory. The primary conflict often arises from the intrusion of the past into the lives of modern individuals, forcing them to confront hidden truths or unresolved desires.
This collection highlights the author's versatility in shifting between genres while maintaining a consistent focus on the emotional resonance of her characters. The stories suggest a preoccupation with the idea that the past is never truly gone, but rather waits just beneath the surface of everyday life. Readers likely find the variety of tones—from lighthearted romance to eerie suspense—to be a defining feature of the volume. The work serves as a comprehensive showcase of the author's established themes, providing a window into the stylistic hallmarks that define her longer novels.
Page Count:
512
Publication Date:
1991-01-01
Publisher:
HarperColliins
ISBN-10:
0006470688
ISBN-13:
9780006470687
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