Love Stories in This Town

From the award-winning author of ‘Forgive Me’ and ‘How to be Lost’ comes this brilliant first collection of short stories. Linking stories about love, identity and motherhood in a changing world, the collection includes ‘Miss Montana’s Wedding’, the prize-winning short story that launched Amanda Eyre Ward’s career in 1999.

From a cabin in Maine to a comedy club in Manhattan and from a diner in Montana to a raft rushing through the Grand Canyon, these twelve stories from acclaimed author Amanda Eyre Ward encompass love in all its complexity, absurdity and glory.

In six dazzling stories spanning a decade, Lola Wilkerson mends a broken heart and meets Emmett Chase, navigating elopement, motherhood and lingering questions about who she wants to be when she grows up. On the banks of Messalonskee Lake, a family tragedy forces Bill and Lizzy to take a hard look at their own lives. Casey, a suburban New Yorker with a wry sense of humour, braves the dating scene after losing her husband in the 9/11 attacks. Annie, a librarian in a small mining town, must choose between the only home she’s ever known and the possibility of a new life. Whether in San Francisco, Houston or Savannah, Ward’s characters search for the place where they truly belong.

In stories as evocative as they are striking, Amanda Eyre Ward once again proves herself to be an astute interpreter of emotions both familiar and strange. Whether exploring the fierceness of a mother’s love or the consolations of marriage, Ward’s stories are imbued with humour, clear-eyed insight and emotional richness.