In a Father's Place

Tilghman is gifted with the ability to express the secret yearnings, fears, regrets, and resentments of characters who can't speak for themselves. Perhaps the best example of this is "A Gracious Rain," in which Stanley, a blue-collar worker, ponders the meaning of life and feelings he can't articulate even to himself. Stanley's general satisfaction with his life forms a poignant contrast to his untimely death from a heart attack. The story's brooding, ruminative tone infuses this tragedy with a kind of eerie calm. At the story's close, Stanley becomes omniscient in death, like the characters in "Our Town." As he looks into the souls of those he knew, he discovers that it's the absence of pat answers to life's great questions that keeps us going.Most of the stories in this collection deal with fathers, especially those trying to hold together shaky family foundations in the face of uncertain futures. Readers will find their thoughts turning again and again to the insights these stories impart--the mark of satisfying, skillful fiction.