[BWF Extra] The Shell Collector – Anthony Doerr - 5 stars

[Linda C]

This debut collection of 8 stories pulls together 7 previously published stories from journals and 1 new story. They take place in locations all over the world. Each has a distinct connection to nature, some in a magical realism way. I like all of them. All but one had a hopeful or satisfying ending. The other was one where the ending was sort of left up to the reader to decide, but not a definite negative. My favorites were The Hunter’s Wife and The Caretaker. The Hunter’s Wife, similar to Mkondo (the new story), pulls together a mismatched couple who try to blend their lives with two distinctly different strong forces making that difficult. Each story reaches a resolution of sorts by the end. The Caretaker follows the life of a Liberian man through revolution, escape, another life, negative adjustments and a resolution.

The connection to nature is strong in all of these and the language emotional. I will definitely be looking for his other story collection.

[NancyJ]

This sounds really good to me. I like a nature connection. I was going to read his Rome memoir last month but ran out of time.