A collection of short stories that stand as character studies. In each, the narrator is a secondary character (think Nick in Gatsby).

A collection of stories set in Brooklyn, all of the stories in Witness involve being told from the viewpoint of a person who is auxiliary to the plot. The titular story, the concluding one to the collection, tells of Bernice and her whirlwind marriage and tragic health emergency - from the eyes of her brother, Silas, who lives on her couch. In another, brothers Rayford and Raymond are caught in gentrification, told through Raymond’s young daughter Beverly’s eyes. They’re all very distinct stories, with this idea that someone is observing and witnessing the action, passing judgment, and being affected by it, but not propelling any of the action. It was quite interesting. A diverse yet cohesive collection of stories.

One of the things I love about literary fiction is the way that tiny actions can have monumental meaning. A word, a gesture, a character turning one way instead of the other can shift the story world profoundly.

So it is with the stories in James Brinkley's new collection, Witness. The subjects are friendship, sibling relationships through the decades, romantic relationships that are functional, dysfunctional, and semi-functional. The themes run deeper: how race and gender constructs play out in individuals' lives, the consequences of violence—both domestic and societal, grief, loss, change.

Brinkley's skill shines in effortless but breathtaking phrases and characters who break your heart even as you shake your head at their foibles. He commands the narrative with just the right amount of revelation at just the right moment and is a master of the slow reveal: unfurling characters' secrets like a slow-motion video of a high-wire fall, maintaining an element of surprise without straining credulity.

I tried to choose a favorite, but I couldn't.

Would it be "Comfort," in which Simone, still struggling to get her life on track four years after her brother was killed by a police officer, takes up with a man she calls Bamboo because they met at a Caribbean restaurant? "She enjoys the ease of him, his willingness to come over whenever she asks him to, his compliance when she wants to be left alone. She likes that he doesn't insist too strongly on going out, or on talking about her troubles." She imagines the wife of the police officer, who was not convicted, and how moving to the suburbs, as the officer did after his administrative leave, "might be the fulfillment of an old-fashioned dream, a life of safety and peace away from the city. Or maybe she's bored out of her mind in the suburbs, maybe she despises it there." Simone drinks herself into oblivion as she ruminates on the officer and his family and her brother's last moments playing out in the squad car. The "comfort" of the title is revealed in the brief ending scene, told from Bamboo's point of view, which I won't spoil for readers.

Or my favorite could be "Arrows," a modern ghost story that doesn't reveal itself as such immediately, in which Helena haunts her husband and son from within the bedroom of the house she once inhabited. Or maybe "Gloria," in which a lonely older woman begins writing notes to her food delivery person. As a hospitality service worker herself, she finds herself entangled in the dynamics of the hotel's power structure. Her letters to the delivery person become more detailed, revealing her relationship with her late husband. "Before now," she writes, "I've never had deep, forthright correspondence with anyone. I've never kept a diary or a journal. A woman and her wall of books (and sometimes a flaming dress worth one's notice)—that's all I've ever been, really.”

Each story seemed more engaging than the last, and by the time I reached "Witness," the tenth, I had become a devoted fan of Brinkley's work and look forward to more.

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

Well then. All I can say right now is that Brinkley's characters are in desperate need of therapeutic help. Like seriously. He has a knack for writing psychologically complex, damaged main characters and narrators carrying the burden of familial trauma -- either generational or enacted upon them by their own parents.

Some of the lines and the moments in these stories fully had my jaw on the floor, mouth just agape. How can I possibly prepare myself for ghost x living sex? How can I prepare myself for the emotional gut punch that is "Comfort?" Like hello? I'm just supposed to read this and go on with my life?

Brinkley is an exceptional writer and a genuinely kind person. I have had the privilege of running into him in Iowa City and he seems like such a sweet person. His work is astonishing and I hope he gets his flowers.

My favorite stories were Comfort, Arrow and Witness, the title story. My least favorite stories were The Happiest House on Union Street and Bystander as I feel like these stories end quite flat and have like quite a few unresolved plot lines and moments of tension that I think the story didn't know what to do with.

Thank you endlessly to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the ARC!!

Jamel Brinkley is a talented writer and story teller. “Witness” tells ten different stories of African Americans in New York City struggling to make it through life’s challenges including illness, dementia, family relationships, dead end jobs and poverty. The actions and attitudes of this diverse set of characters sometimes are easy to understand and at other times leave the reader wondering how they came to think and feel the way they do. This is a collection of short stories that will leave you thinking about them after you’ve finished the book.

This was a very slow burn for me, I think perhaps this collection just don't quite speak to me as much as I expected. The Let-Out was the most lasting for me, while most of the rest passed as rather not memorable. Again, this probably will fit many other readers, just not me. Thank you to Net Galley and publisher for approving me the eARC to review!

I really enjoy reading short story collections, and was delighted when WITNESS became available. Jamel Brinkley is such a talented writer with his intelligence and wit on fully display here. Each story is well-crafted and the theme--how humans relate to each other -- is at once specific to these characters and universal. The NYC setting is of course seen a lot, but it's handled well here, and I enjoyed seeing the city through different characters' eyes. I recommend this collection for fans of literary fiction.

I’m all for discovering new writers through short story collections. I feel like it’s low risk, not as high an investment as a full novel, and let me get a taste of various stories. I totally downloaded this collection at random, without any knowledge of the writer or the themes. I was delighted to see that all of the 10 stories in this collection were actually set in New York, which I will visit during summer. That’s a serendipitous find!

The stories dealt with different difficult topics like failed relationships, family conflicts, mental illness, old age, gentrification… I understood that many characters in the stories are African-American but I’m not 100% sure, this might be more clear to American readers. I really enjoyed the writing of each story, I felt immediately pulled into the story even when it was a heavy situation. Some stories were particularly heart-wrenching but Brinkley is never cruel with the characters. I understand that this is the second collection by this writer, now I’d love to read his first.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for review consideration.

The weight of these stories sneaks up on you like a sudden storm. Brinkley has a unique voice that’s worldly yet humble, and his characters inhabit fragile worlds, always tiptoeing on thin ice.

I love an author that's new for me, especially when they write like this.

Witness is a collection of stories told from the point of view of an important witness to the events. Some are strange, some sad or disturbing but there are common themes of love, family and belonging in all the stories.

My favourites were The Happiest House on Union Street, Bartow Station and Comfort, which (as I think about it) are the most heart-wrenching but there's something beautiful about all the stories and the writing is excellent.

Lovely. I'll be looking out for more by Jamel Brinkley.

I really enjoyed the stories in Witness. I liked that they all took place in NYC, but also had many different perspectives. The stories were well-written, beautiful and sometimes sad.

I do like a well-written short story and this collection is very well written. All are set in New York and they tell of very human relationships between compelling characters. This is the defining feature of these stories: the relationships between the characters and this makes a very pleasant change from crime, murder etc. The characters and their gritty real lives felt at times like non-fiction memoirs rather than fiction. I found myself re-reading sections, just for the pleasure of reading those passages again.

Vividly drawn characters which are easy to fall in love with. An entertaining short story collection for a cozy read on a rainy afternoon. Will seek this author out in the future. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

These stories were beautiful, tragic, haunting, and real. Each of them deal with the fluidity of relationships and memory and how we as individuals navigate both. The collection begins with a bang and one of the most perfect sentences and “Blessed Deliverance” and it ends with the title story which perfectly sums up how we love and hurt others. I look forward to teaching this collection.

The book, Witness, tells ten different stories of what it means to observe something and either take action, or not. Each of the ten stories takes place in New York City, with the main characters ages spanning from children to grandmothers. While the stories were powerful, I found the book hard to follow. The different lives of black families are explored. There were hard topics explored such as: illness, dementia, dead end jobs, failed relationships, and poverty. The writing was excellent, but I found the characters confusing and difficult to follow. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

This title was a slow burn for me BUT I am glad I stuck with it! I look forward to reading more of his work! One of a kind!

3 stars out of 5!

This short story collection includes three previously published stories. Witness and Comfort won awards and are two examples of what make this collection an excellent read. I might add Bartow Station, my favorite, and Arrows, a close second. The Let-Out felt like a freeze frame of a fuller story, but that might simply be by comparison. It could be that we learn an explosive backstory that is selfishly given yet not explored.

This distinguished author walks readers through life experiences that speak to our times. Experiences that drive characters to question and evaluate life, to stay stuck or move on.

My gratitude to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Witness explores the various situations that occur within a diverse set of characters from New York City. These ten short stories examine how privilege and power affect different lives.

I found Witness really interesting and new, every story showed a completely unique set of characters dealing with their own challenges. I enjoyed reading from different perspectives and stepping into the shoes of "people" from varying walks of life whether privileged or not.

Jamel Brinkley’s is a graduate of Columbia, attendee of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Wallace Stegner Fellow and this impressive resume shows throughout his writing. His debut ‘A Lucky Man’ was a Pen Award Winner and Finalist for the National Book Award and his new collection, ‘Witness’ looks to be another major contender.

Witness explores the various philosophical quandaries that accompany a diverse crop of New York City residents. Brinkley examines the power, privilege, and inequality which is now fundamental to New York.

With this work Brinkley looks poised to break through to the mainstream. This is a collection sure to make waves.

A strong set of stories. This author writes very well and these stories are well constructed and executed.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!.