The Hand of Buddha

Twelve stories take us to places and cultures described with travel-writing deftness and punctuated with image and lyrical phrase of a poet. Oakland-based writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin brings all her writing skills to bear in these fictional worlds of women stepping out--to claim their own worlds. I read this collection first in 2002 (it first came out in 2000) and picked it up again after viewing the photographs of THE HAND OF BUDDHA in Douglas Sandberg's portfolio--which reminded me of McFerrin's stories. In the title story Tess receives a beautifully wrapped package of the citrus fruit (that looks like two hands praying) from Sirena, "the ethereal proprietress of...a tea shop and apothecary". The note says ". . .The Buddha's hand will stay fresh for a very long time, but it is sweetest when used right away. Do not wait too long." (p. 72) In these stories women support women in a world intermingling the senses and the spirit. Illness, death, erotica, love, pregnancy by whatever means, the vicissitudes of marriage, finding one's "fascinating woman"--all rub against each other like so many fingers on "The Hand of the Buddha". --Janet Grace Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary

The alchemy of Linda Watanabe McFerrin's work is a combination of several elements she mixes in that brilliant workshop-of-a-mind of hers. She manages to provide gorgeous details that reveal much about her characters while not clobbering the reader over the head with heavy exposition. Her observations of the human condition are full of profundity and incredible heart. Her awe-inspiring mastery, though, is often elusive--as potent in what she chooses not to tell as it is in what she chooses to tell.And, when you've reached the end of one of her exquisite stories, you are left both satisfied and wanting more. In fact, most of the stories in The Hand Of Buddha stayed with me for several days after I had completed them--especially the title story--because I felt a sense enrichment and yearning at the same time.McFerrin's stories almost seem as though they were written by a divine, non-judgemental hand--Buddha's hand--and as such, can serve as reminders to us all that the seeming everydayness of our lives is truly numinous.

The wry, humorous, warm-hearted viewpoint of the story-teller in these tales of women switching gears to get out of crisis-mode builds bridges across great divides-between religion, ethnicity, location, and between the secular and the sacred. I loved Linda Watanabe McFerrin's novel, Namako: Sea Cucumber, and this book is an amazing follow-up. I can't wait to read what she writes next!