Curtain Calls: A Collection of Short Stories

by Barbara Mathias-Riegel

The twelve stories in Curtain Calls are about love, loss, aloneness and self-discovery told from the view of the very young to the elderly. No matter how heart-tugging the stories may be, there is always the redeeming element of humor. A widow meets her lover during a bank robbery; a nine-year-old confesses to the parish priest her fear she is going to murder someone; a man in his 80′s learns that his buddy in assisted living is planning his wife’s mercy killing; after hitting a deer, a woman’s car catapults into a dark parkway where no one can hear her cries for help; a bored, stay-at-home young mother plots to attract her neighbor, a soldier recently back from the battlefield; a middle-aged bride’s obsessions come vicariously close to spoiling her honeymoon in Portugal. In the last story, “Curtain Calls” a once-glamourous Pop singer faces her nineties without her lover, a man who had lived life to the fullest.

Genres: Short Stories

168 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Barbara Mathias-Riegel is the author of "Ocean Breathing: A Novel," a fast-moving, contemporary story of one woman’s triumph over a lifetime of hidden anxieties, from panic attacks to agoraphobia. She is the author of "Curtain Calls: A Collection of Short Stories" and "Between Sisters: Secret Rivals, Intimate Friends." Also, she co-authored "40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child."

For over 30 years, she wrote features on family, psychology and women’s issues. Her award-winning articles appeared regularly in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, L.A. Times Syndicate, Journal Newspapers, Modern Maturity (AARP) and Family Therapy Networker.

Barbara enjoys speaking to book clubs, not only about her books, but about the craft of writing short stories and memoirs.

Reviews

[Gina Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Focused on issues of intimacy, aging and dying, I found Curtain Calls to be both haunting and hopeful. Barbara Mathias-Riegel's rich assortment of characters who offer comfort and dignity to their vulnerable counterparts is depicted with unflinching reality. Barbara grasps the
nuances of feeling, from compassion to apprehension. Her descriptions of the settings in which these characters live are masterful brush strokes created in words with the imaginary pen of an artist on the
canvas of the written page, leaving the reader with a knowing smile.

Curtain Calls is thought provoking, insightful, poignant, funny and sad. Too good to keep to oneself, I bought several to give to friends and family.

Brava, Barbara!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.

It was my first time reading anything from this author. She did not disappoint. I enjoy collections of short stories and this book covers many characters, emotions and its a book to share. Having it in short story form is a great gift for that last little bit of reading at bedtime or as you wait for an appointment or on a commute.