“Gale Massey’s insight and empathy resonate throughout this beautifully written debut collection. She has just the right words to make us feel the pain and hardships affecting her characters, but always with hope. This a must-read from a wonderful new writer. I can’t wait to see what she does next.” –Alafair Burke, New York Times-bestselling author of The Better Sister

“Through girlhood, adulthood, and motherhood, and against complex family dynamics, the characters in Gale Massey’s exquisite collection strive to find their places in the world—and find themselves in the process. Sharply characterized, lyrically written, rich with surprises, rich with life—these are stories to savor.” —Art Taylor, Edgar Award-winning author of The Boy Detective and The Summer of ’74

"Gale Massey’s astonishing debut collection, Rising and Other Stories, explores the themes of race, sexuality, childhood, family, hardship and courage in tough, clear-eyed prose. Girls and women on the edges of society are compassionately rendered as the reader is drawn into a world of small towns and smaller lives with such bare emotion it’s hard to look away. These stories are more than enjoyable, they are addictive. Brava to an unusually gifted writer.” —Louise Marburg, author of The Truth About Me and No Diving Allowed

“The emotions displayed throughout are sparse yet full of understated meaning. Truly a marvelous collection of short stories.” —Suanne Schafer, author of A Different Kind of Fire and Hunting the Devil

"Massey's writing twists the hearts out of her characters and leaves them exposed, broken, tender, and pulsing on the page. Be forewarned—your own heart will join them." —Sandra Gail Lambert, author of A Certain Loneliness

“In Rising and Other Stories, Gale Massey’s characters spring to life with unparalleled vividness and verve. Mothers and fathers, carpenters and grocers, veterans and police officers, church ladies and inmates, these saints and sinners elbow past tragedy, racing trains and swimming their way through alligator-infested waters. These are stories that will stay with you, haunting and wondrous.” —David James Poissant, author of Lake Life and The Heaven of Animals