I read "
Slum Roots: Julianna and Other Short Stories [Kindle Edition]" By Dan Carroll
This is his description for the story:
Book Description
JULIANNA, the lead story in this collection of short stories, is the seed of Dan Carroll's slum novels- the award winning SLUM and the sequel, SLUM SONG.
The short story, JULIANNA, was originally thrown onto the "scrap heap" as Dan Carroll explains in the Preface, but because of the potential of its characters- Julianna, Alba, Robert, and Donna- the story had been reevaluated and the characters reappear in the novels.
Presented in this book are stories of passion. In addition to JULIANNA, a story of impassioned love between Robert and Julianna, CARESSE exemplifies the passion of lust, HOLDING HANDS the passion of infatuation, PURGE the passion of fury, and CHRISTMAS TEARS the passion of a young girl struggling to become her own person.
Many of Dan Carroll's short stories are the result of his global adventures which have ranged from the Middle East to the Czech Republic, to countries of the Caribbean and Central America. Stories in this collection reflect some of those journeys.
Review by THE US REVIEW OF BOOKS--
In the title story "Julianna," we meet the haunting young woman who evokes for Carroll the memories of lovely ladies he met on what he refers to as his "global adventures" living and working overseas. "Whatever she was, she was gorgeous." But Julianna is not gorgeous enough to keep her American lover from leaving; caught between her considerable charms and his knowledge that Julianna is a married woman, Robert forces himself to part from her in order to save her from disgrace.
The collection continues in "Caresse," where we encounter another sort of passion: vengeful obsession, in the mind and heart of an artistic woman who was raped and saw her husband killed. She must complete her portrait of the assailant, and destroy it; and with it, possibly destroy her only chance for a redemptive new life. "Holding Hands" puts us into the mind of a young Muslim girl newly arrived in America, longing to blend in but restricted by culture from offering a simple expression of friendship. "Things were not shameless here, people could say what they feel, everything was in the open. "Purge" is a twisting, harrowing international and intergenerational tale of war, rage, denial, and death – with a possibility of atonement, at a price. In "Christmas Tears," we meet a child who learns that her talent can be enough, can be a gift she gives herself, even if her family is incapable of sharing in it.
"Julianna" is a short book, with a rather long introduction in which the author confesses that the title tale is the seed story from which he generated two award-winning novels about romance and its complications in the Third World (Slum and Slum Song). He hand-picked the accompanying stories as a "melange of human passions" about "five females who embody those passions." As a theme for a collection, it works well; readers might only wish it were longer. Carroll is on his way to developing a fan base, one suspects, and this small but artful offering will doubtless support that initiative.
The short story, JULIANNA, was originally thrown onto the "scrap heap" as Dan Carroll explains in the Preface, but because of the potential of its characters- Julianna, Alba, Robert, and Donna- the story had been reevaluated and the characters reappear in the novels.
Presented in this book are stories of passion. In addition to JULIANNA, a story of impassioned love between Robert and Julianna, CARESSE exemplifies the passion of lust, HOLDING HANDS the passion of infatuation, PURGE the passion of fury, and CHRISTMAS TEARS the passion of a young girl struggling to become her own person.
Many of Dan Carroll's short stories are the result of his global adventures which have ranged from the Middle East to the Czech Republic, to countries of the Caribbean and Central America. Stories in this collection reflect some of those journeys.
Review by THE US REVIEW OF BOOKS--
In the title story "Julianna," we meet the haunting young woman who evokes for Carroll the memories of lovely ladies he met on what he refers to as his "global adventures" living and working overseas. "Whatever she was, she was gorgeous." But Julianna is not gorgeous enough to keep her American lover from leaving; caught between her considerable charms and his knowledge that Julianna is a married woman, Robert forces himself to part from her in order to save her from disgrace.
The collection continues in "Caresse," where we encounter another sort of passion: vengeful obsession, in the mind and heart of an artistic woman who was raped and saw her husband killed. She must complete her portrait of the assailant, and destroy it; and with it, possibly destroy her only chance for a redemptive new life. "Holding Hands" puts us into the mind of a young Muslim girl newly arrived in America, longing to blend in but restricted by culture from offering a simple expression of friendship. "Things were not shameless here, people could say what they feel, everything was in the open. "Purge" is a twisting, harrowing international and intergenerational tale of war, rage, denial, and death – with a possibility of atonement, at a price. In "Christmas Tears," we meet a child who learns that her talent can be enough, can be a gift she gives herself, even if her family is incapable of sharing in it.
"Julianna" is a short book, with a rather long introduction in which the author confesses that the title tale is the seed story from which he generated two award-winning novels about romance and its complications in the Third World (Slum and Slum Song). He hand-picked the accompanying stories as a "melange of human passions" about "five females who embody those passions." As a theme for a collection, it works well; readers might only wish it were longer. Carroll is on his way to developing a fan base, one suspects, and this small but artful offering will doubtless support that initiative.
If this looks like something youd be interested in go check it out here : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E0NHG0K/ref=cm_cr_notf_fhv_prd
If you love short stories your going to love this book! It keeps you on your toes and wanting more!! I felt like I had knew the characters thats how drawn in I became! Def. a great writer and will def. be reading more of his books!!!
Thanks for taking the chance to read this and I really hope you go check out his book!! :)
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