The Balm of Gilead Tree: New and Selected Stories

This collection of stories is my favorite of all the Robert Morgan books I've read so far. It seems to me that the short story is Morgan's strongest literary form; whereas his novels tend to be tedious and his poetry somewhat bland, his stories often carry some genuine emotional punch. These stories, arranged in a generally chronological (in terms of the time in which the pieces are set, not when they were written or published) sequence, are all set in the Southern Appalachians, where Morgan was born and raised (although he now teaches at Cornell University). "The Tracks of Chief DeSoto," perhaps the best story in the anthology, is set in a Cherokee village at the time of the arrival of the first white explorers to visit the mountains, while "The Balm of Gilead Tree" is set in modern time. Nearly all the stories have a powerful sense of pathos, although Morgan occasionally injects a dose of grim humor. These are stories of exploitation, depression, loss, death, disappointment, and occasional small triumph. I have heard Morgan say during a lecture that he writes stories which have a sense of inevitability, whose outcomes seem to follow directly from what happens earlier in the story. He accomplishes this, although the sense of inevitability also results in a predictable approach to storytelling. Nothing happens to his characters that is unexpected or clever; they live simply and according to a cosmic plan. They are believable people, but I sometimes found myself wishing that they were a little less ordinary. I recommend this collection to lovers of Robert Morgan, as well as anyone interested in the craft of writing short stories, particularly stories with a strong sense of place. This book leaves the reader with the smell of sweat, hog, and honeysuckle lingering long after the final page is turned.

The Balm of Gilead Tree is a strong collection of stories by Robert Morgan whose Gap Creek has been selected as Ophrah's Book Club Selection for January.Ranging over three centuries, The Balm of Gilead Tree shows Morgan's mastery and displays a wider scope of his grasp of history and language than his novels.