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This Is a Voice from Your Past

Merrill Joan Gerber

3.55 · Rating details · 11 ratings · 3 reviews

“Every woman gets a call like this sooner or later. The phone rings, a man says: ‘This is a voice from your past.’” The opening of the compelling title story of Merrill Joan Gerber’s collection sets the tone for each of the thirteen remarkable pieces therein, two of them previously unpublished. Set mostly in Southern California—in seemingly peaceful, suburban households—Ge ...more

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ebook, 200 pages

Published June 1st 2013 by Dzanc Books (first published January 1st 2005)

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Jun 07, 2013 Kathy Cowie rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, netgalley, own-it, kindle-book

It was appropriate that on the week one of my favorite short story writers won the Nobel Prize, I was reading a collection of stories written by a woman writer new to me. Until recently, it had been a while since I read short stories, and I had forgotten how much I love the form. This book, described as “compelling” in the publisher’s synopsis, surely lived up to its promise. After I finished, I looked up the author, only to realize that I really am behind on this one — how did I miss her before It was appropriate that on the week one of my favorite short story writers won the Nobel Prize, I was reading a collection of stories written by a woman writer new to me. Until recently, it had been a while since I read short stories, and I had forgotten how much I love the form. This book, described as “compelling” in the publisher’s synopsis, surely lived up to its promise. After I finished, I looked up the author, only to realize that I really am behind on this one — how did I miss her before now? (Thank you NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read a book I am excited to share with my friends.)

I think all but two of the stories in this collection were published before, but they have a terrific sense of time and place when put together here. Some of the characters overlapped, the time periods seemed similar within a decade or two (love to read the words “you can borrow my word processor”). The stories, for the most part, dealt with heavy themes; almost all seemed to have an undertone of violence. But what got me really hooked, was that many of them started out familiar, almost innocuous, then turned into something more serious, tense, and often, disturbing. The title story contained the perfect balance of the ordinary and the extraordinary, in the details, the writing and the theme. It elevates what starts as a rekindled friendship to the point of horror with only the subtlest of changes as the story progresses. The only glitch for me was the last story in the book. It seemed as overwrought as the unceasing barking of its theme. (It was almost like the short story version of the movie “Pacific Heights” — even if you weren’t likely to be in that particular position, the premise was real enough to put fear in your heart.) As for me, I just wanted it to be over! For a book containing 13 stories, this last one took up almost twenty percent of the pages. The problem was that I kept praying for the story to be over, and then, when it was, so was the book. Despite this, I highly recommend the collection. And, if you do have a problem with the dogs in your neighborhood, you might want to skip that last story.
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Jan 24, 2014 Nan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Gerber is the voice of everywoman. Her ordinary characters and plots unfold in unexpected ways. I didn't mind that some of them seemed to obsess about the same subjects -- the suicidal abusive brother-in-law, the parents in Florida. Some subjects are worth repeating, especially when they are repeated from a different angle. ...more

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Jun 29, 2008 Felicity rated it really liked it · review of another edition

As always, a fascinating collection of short stories from Merrill Joan Gerber. Some I preferred more than others...there were definite similarities to the stories of Lily Brett in the final tale, "Dogs Bark." ...more

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About Merrill Joan Gerber

Merrill Joan Gerber

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Prize-winning novelist and short story writer who has published seven novels — among them King Of The World, which won the Pushcart Press Editor's Book Award for an "important and unusual book of literary distinction," and The Kingdom of Brooklyn, winner of the Ribalow Award from Hadassah Magazine for "the best English-language book of fiction on a Jewish theme" — as well as five volumes of short ...more