A Place of Light — Mary Bucci Bush

Impeccably crafted and sensitively written, this collection of short stories is built around the outstanding yet ordinary individuals and rural working class eccentrics of the author's native upstate New York. Gritty, raw, and real, these depictions of the hardworking poor reveal the secret burdens of their everyday lives. At the core of these wide-ranging narratives are moments of surprise and illumination that stun the thoughtful characters and force them to face the unknown.