Jim Tomlinson
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Nothing Like An Ocean
Things Kept, Things Left Behind
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Press Nothing Like An Ocean The eleven stories in Nothing Like An Ocean confirm the promise of JimTomlinson’s award-winning debut, Things Kept, Things Left Behind. Set in and around the fictional town of Spivey, Kentucky, the stories spotlight small town lives that are thrown into quiet turmoil by unexpected events or outsiders: a man’s broken-down car prompts a bittersweet hometown reunion; a husband is surprised to find that the idyllic spot where he courted his wife has been obliterated by mountaintop removal; a waitress watches in fascination as a regular customer blossoms as muse to an artist from Belarus. Adept at juxtaposing light and dark elements, Tomlinson displays compassion for characters searching for moments of found grace and earned redemption. The title story, about a divorced man who receives an anonymous invitation to a church social for middle-aged singles, carries tragic undertones as the protagonist is continually reminded of his son’s accidental death and the subsequent dissolution of his marriage. With a strong sense of place and clear, poetic language, Tomlinson breathes new life into timeless stories, creating for the reader a world that is foreign and yet deeply familiar. * Things Kept, Things Left Behind Things Kept, Things Left Behind is a debut fiction collection, eleven stories by Kentucky writer Jim Tomlinson. The stories, all set in and around the fictional town of Spivey, Kentucky, explore the ambiguities of kept secrets, the tangle of abandoned pasts and uneasy accommodations. In each story, characters strive to reclaim dreams left behind, along with something of the dreamer who was lost. Starkly rendered, these characters truly inhabit a specific place and class—small-town Kentucky, working-class America. But the stories, despite their darkness, are told with surprising humor and grace. In the end, each resonates with an emotional heart that makes it truly universal.
Characters face conflict, sometimes within
themselves, sometimes with each other. Each carries a past and with it an
urge to return and repair. In “First Husband, First Wife,” ex-spouses are
repeatedly drawn together by a shared history they cannot seem to escape,
until they are forced to choose between leaving the past or leaving each
other. In “Things Kept,” grown sisters try to help a prideful mother.
“Prologue” is a voyeuristic journey through the surprisingly different
lives of two star-crossed friends, told through letters exchanged over
thirty-five years. In “Stainless,” Annie and Warren divide their
possessions on the final night of their marriage. Their realtor has
advised them to “declutter” the house they are leaving, but they discover
that most of the clutter is not so easily removed. The choices are
never simple, and for every thing kept, something must be abandoned.
Tomlinson’s characters struggle but eventually find their way, often
unknowingly, to points of departure, to places where things just might
change. * High resolution images & files - Nothing Like An Ocean
Book cover pdf file - 547 kb Book cover jpg file - 45 kb University Press of Kentucky catalog pdf file - 893 kb
High resolution images & files - Things Kept, Things Left Behind
Book cover pdf file - 935 kb Book cover jpg file - 186 kb Catalog page pdf file - 72 kb Kirkus Review page pdf file - 20 kb
author photos - click thumbnail photo for larger image
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