Nora Jane: A Life in Stories

This is the first time I've read anything by Ellen Gilchrist and I was enthralled with her writing style. I enjoyed the stories and liked the characters and given her upbringing, I was not surprised that she would embrace the life of a wife and mother - I think it made sense that she would be happy to finally have a normal life and give her kids a normal childhood. I really like the characters - Freddy with his amazing generousity - his friendship with Neiman. I liked the different personalities of the children, Neiman's overbearing mother. I loved the little story about Father Donny and the hairdresser. I was expecting Sandy to come up again - thought we were a bit led on with that one - also thought all the happy endings were a little too much. All in all, however, I really enjoyed this book and the characters - and especially Gilchrist's writing. I will definitely be going back and reading her earlier works.

As a child, Nora Jane Whittington loved her grandmother's Blue House where the youngster learned that she is the product of generations of strong women who are not afraid to take charge as it is a God gift for them to use their strength when needed. At nineteenth she heads west where her mentor Sandy teaches her to rob people using a prop gun. In the San Francisco Bay area, she tries to rob bookstore owner Freddy Harwood, but instead of leaving him in a wasteland, she ends up sharing his hot tub. She loves both her men and soon gives birth to twins. She chooses Freddy and with him raises their daughters in Berkeley. Over the next two decades, Nora Jane continues her belief to gravitate towards those you love; others follow her lofty ambition. All is joyful in Mudville until Freddy has leukemia. Now Nora Jane has her toughest task of all: bringing all her love into nurturing her beloved The fourteen short stories have appeared in other publications over the years, but the novella Fault Lines is a new entry that adds to Nora Jane's cycle of life and love. The tales are all well written as most fans already know, but for the first time they appear in one book. The poignant effervescent heroine is perhaps at her best in NORA JANE A LIFE IN STORIES because the well written often amusing bit, always with a serious undertone, comes across more as a biographical fiction than anecdotal shorts. The novella enhances Ellen Gilchrist's wonderful collection. Harriet Klausner