Tuesday, June 22, 2010

"Ghosts of New York", and Other News

In an amazing bit of title-synchronicity with yesterday’s post, let’s take a brief look at Jennifer Pelland’s “Ghosts of New York”, a post 9/11 ghost story.

“Ghosts of New York” is the lead story in the Dark Faith anthology edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon (following only a poem from Linda Addison). Pelland tells the story of the people who jumped from the Towers on September 11 and in this story they are doomed to repeat their final leap over and over so long as people still remember what happened. Only, it’s not so simple as that.

There is horror and despair here, as there should be. But there is also exploration, revelation, and a touch of not-easy grace. “Ghosts of New York” is a tough story, in part because the event in question is so prominent in the national consciousness and so much more immediate for residents of New York, but also because of the revelations of the other ghosts of New York. It calls to mind other tragedies and questions the power of memory.

As should be expected from Jennifer Pelland, “Ghosts of New York” is quite good and uncomfortably moving.

**

The other news?

Jennifer Pelland has sold her first novel
, Machine, to Apex Books! Congrats to Pelland!

I'm a big fan of her short fiction (have you read "Captive Girl" yet? How about "That Has Such People In It"?) and I'm excited to have the chance to read it sometime maybe next year! This one will surely hit my annual list of the books I'm most excited for.

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