Winter Honeymoon - Stories, a collection of nine short stories, is another stellar addition to polymath Jacob M. Appel’s long list of highly acclaimed, short stories publications. His past publications of short stories consistently garnered starred and glowing reviews. Winter Honeymoon deserves its place with them.

Describing this writer’s stories can be difficult as his superb ability to start stories with extraordinary, kaleidoscopically detailed, memorable, and quite often funny opening sentences may set up expectations of a comedic work. That would be undercutting the fullness of the stories as their characters try to navigate around the sharp edges of life, weather the strains of relationships, and search for answers to life’s unanswerable questions. Side-by-side stories often convey varying styles, such as the collection’s last two stories, “After Valentino” and “Fallout.” The prairie hue of the first with its opening line has that hushed, even tone of rural life. “One summer morning in 1927, a fortnight after the blueberry harvest, Ada Kell bundled herself and her eldest daughter in matching black crepe and set off for the funeral of a young actor neither woman had ever met.” The second story steps right into the fear-driven staccato, splintering life of a couple after 9/11. “After a long day manufacturing sex toys, Maggie’s husband studies chemical warfare at the mahogany table in their dining room.” The story plots and set-ups are creatively imaginative, yet there is the sensitive touch of compassion for the characters with all their struggles, histories, propensities, and failings.

To select one story that stands out is not possible for me. Abbie in “The Appraisal” is a dying, older woman who “lived, unknowingly, to the wattage of a low-energy bulb.” The stories of the fading of the light of the elderly lives, often in search of an “alternative to a death of quiet desperation,” display the writer’s ability to humanely understand this third act of life well beyond his own years, which he has done consistently, as in the memorable “The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street” in an earlier collection. “Before the Storm” is a perfect example of this writer’s vast, wide ranging, encyclopedic knowledge. These factual gems and references are well threaded through the characters' own words. A difficult father with a failing mind, a retired classics professor, mingles the ancient with the present, often creating absurd, even comic, scenes as he lives “through interesting times.” It works here and through the other stories. This blend of light and dark is the mark of a talented writer.

I received access to this book some time ago, and I failed to write a review in a timely manner. I am now. Abbie in “The Appraisal” at one point ponders over a small decision. “She pulled The Forsyte Saga from her canvas bag. The book seemed unreasonably long. Was it worth the investment? It might be the last book she’d ever read.” Abbie understands the weight and worth of the currency of time, and so do I. This book I’ve now read twice. It is well worth every minute of reading even at life in the third act. I highly recommend this book and all the previous short story collections by Jacob M. Appel.

For the early access to this book, I am grateful to NetGalley and Black Lawrence Press and especially to Jacob M. Appel, not only for his continued marvelous writings, but for his graciousness and generosity to his readers. I hope he continues to write in all of the genres that he explores, and we will have many more of his books. My opinion is all my own.

EXCERPT: Both Minton plots were now occupied - Jinelle's for three decades, Arnold's for three days - and Sandy had been office manager at the cemetery for so long that she could locate individual graves for visitors without consulting the logbook. Temporary workers enjoyed quizzing her, flipping open the registry and asking, for example, where Maryann Lewis was interred, but Sandy would shoot back: 'Do you mean Maryann Lewis died 1977 or Maryann Lewis died 1984?' When the temps enquired why she had mastered what seemed to them like a morbid parlour trick, or when a feature writer for the local paper delved into Sandy's motives, she always replied, 'Busy hands are happy hands and an idle mind is the Devil's workshop,' which seemed satisfactory to everyone, although it wasn't quite clear how memorizing maps of the dead kept one's hands occupied. It was the sort of response people expected from a homely, church-going spinster. If she had explained her desire to preserve a living memory of the deceased - the way the Jews consecrate the legacy of the holocaust - her inquisitors might think her cuckoo. Instead they thought her upright, straight-shooting, knowledgeable, generous, witty, a lady of considerable spirit, but leading a life as lacklustre as cold porridge. Which it often was.

And now father was dead and Victoria was coming home. Victoria who had done nothing and gotten everything, while Sandy did everything and got nothing. Though you wouldn't put it to folks that way. - Excerpt taken from The Other Sister

ABOUT 'WINTER HONEYMOON': From a widow pursuing an old flame to an architect caught in a collapsing relationship, WINTER HONEYMOON reminds us that life is fleeting but love, in all its forms, is a survivor. These are stories of sometimes quiet, sometimes incredible, and always complex lives that shout at us in their telling. With Jacob Appel's devilish eye for detail, the stakes grow, the plots turn, and the reader is hit in the head as much as the heart. These are as much affirmations as they are stories, and this is an adventurous and accomplished collection by any measure

MY THOUGHTS: A collection of nine short stories from master storyteller Jacob M. Appel.

While Appel portrays the lives of ordinary people from extraordinary viewpoints, I missed the sense of ridiculousness that he normally infuses his stories with. This collection left me feeling sad, rather than with a smile on my face.

I rated the individual stories as follows:
Winter Honeymoon ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Apprenticeship ⭐⭐.5
The Other Sister ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Before the Storm ⭐⭐⭐
Iceberg Potential ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pay as You Go ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
After Valentino ⭐⭐
Fallout ⭐⭐.5

⭐⭐⭐.2

#JacobMAppel #NetGalley
#contemporaryfiction #deathanddying #historicalfiction #shortstories #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: Jacob holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Brown University, an M.A. and an M.Phil. from Columbia University, an M.S. in bioethics from the Alden March Bioethics Institute of Albany Medical College, an M.D. from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, an M.F.A. in creative writing from New York University, an M.F.A. in playwriting from Queens College, an M.P.H. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He currently practices psychiatry in New York City.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Black Lawrence Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Winter Honeymoon by Jacob M. Appel for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Life is until it’s not, then not until it is

A gathering of short stories about the human mind and how it thinks. All are so different, some weak, some indecisive and some committed to their own thoughts and terrors. Some are afraid of life, some afraid of death and some afraid of just being.

The stories are all good and all different. Just when you think you have it figured out, you don’t.

Thanks to Jacob M. Appell, Black Lawrence Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy for an honest review.

Jacob M Appel is is a prolific author with 19 published books to his name.   His most recent was <b>Winter Honeymoon </b> a collection of 9 short stories.   I'd previosly read and admired another of his short story collections <b>Amazing Things Are Happening Here </b> so was excited for the opprtunity to read his latest.   It's been said that the good short stories contain a blend of character, setting, conflict, plot and theme.  Appel has nailed it with his Winter Honeymoon collection.

Whilst each story was good there were a few which really captured my attention.   For example The Appraisal was the  story of a woman with terminal cancer who wanted to do something to give reason and meaning to her life.  Her choice was not one I'd ever have guessed at and it was both sad and thought provoking.    

Before the Storm was another good one in which a man and his father are shopping around for a nursing home.  I'm not sure the elderly man was ever truly likeable, judging by some of their reflections on times gone by, but now in his later years he was quite abrasive.   Until the very end that is when he pleadingly asked his son not to put him into a home.    This was a story I'm sure would resonate with many middle aged adults. 

Pay As You Go was populated with quite likeable characters and a bit of a plot twist kept it interesting.   Three generations of one family all under one roof.   The father/grandfather needed a carer and after several unsuccessful trials they finally found a man suitable for the job.    His introduction into the role caused great relief but is he really as good as he seems or are they all being scammed?

Fallout was the name of the last story which was set in the aftermath of 9/11.   Maggie's husband Frank begins to imagine worst case scenarios and allows his fear of terrorism to spiral out of control.   He makes massive changes to their lives and puts them in great debt to build a fallout shelter.   Just when it seems as though Maggie might need to leave him they see what appears to be a flash on the horizon.     Readers are left to wonder whether Franks preparations were well considered and a timely investment, or if he really was a bit bonkers like many had accused him of.  

Throughout each story the author managed to create interesting, sometimes quirky, sometimes flawed characters.   There were some that were really messed up too so perhaps he was drawing upon his experience in the field of Psychiatry.    At any rate, regardless of where his stories came from they were well put together and I definitely recommend them.

My thanks to Black Lawrence Press and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Compelling stories about families, loss of control, generational relationships, and living through crises in America. Well-written, with interesting characters and dilemmas, all meant to make the reader think and remember and relate.

I enjoyed this collection of 9 short stories. The title of the book is the title to the 1st story. Some sort of 'a loss or an ending' seems to be a reoccurring theme/thread in each story, & each story is just long enough to set the atmosphere/paint the picture/set the hook, before the author sneaks in the surprise/unusual/odd ending! It was a quick entertaining read. I've read this author before & find that I like his work!
I received this e-ARC from the the author & Black Lawrence Press via NetGalley, & I offer/post this, my own fair & honest review.

Appel is quite talented. I discovered his short stories a few years ago, and stumbled on a documentary about him and, among other things, how dang smart he is. Anyway, this is another enjoyable set of stories. I hope he hits the big time because it would be great if more readers could enjoy his work.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

Thanks to Net Galley for the proof. I've been a fan of Appel's for several years now. He is a very talented man, and if you don't know that yet, read his bio right now. These stories are full of pain, but it is done in such an artful way I want to just keep speeding through them to see what is next. Everything in this set of stories is very much in this world compared to some of his other collections. My favorite story was the last one, crazy, with humor.