Literature

The entry below is being cross-posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Lots of time for reading when you’re waiting for broken bones to heal! Fiction to follow. After the Last Border:Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America by Jessica Goudeau tells the often-checkered history of American treatment of refugees,…

Living Madly: Just Friends By Emilie-Noelle Provost In the 1989 film, When Harry Met Sally, Harry Burns, the character played by Billy Crystal, famously says, “. . . men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.” I know some people believe this, but…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 56 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 56: An elixir and a frappe Blanche’s head was a Tilt-A-Whirl. Buzzing voices extracted her from stupor. “Andy, get Marieanne! PF’s bleedin’ all over the place. Madeleine, help me turn her over. One, two, three, go!” Blanche didn’t need to open…

The Moth of Literary Fame: A Tale of Two Writers By David Daniel Emerson likened literary fame to a “flitting moth.” The recent imaginative-biodrama Emily reminds us what an uncertain thing a writer’s legacy can be. Dead from tuberculosis at 30, a mere year after her lone novel appeared to…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 55 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 55: Here Lies . . . It was already the end of January 1966 and SFA was well into its daily work routine spiced, sometimes, with a little bit of play. The boarders enjoyed their morning maple butter and the chores…

In 1969, Tim Trask returned from the Vietnam War and took a job as a guard at Massachusetts Correctional Institute (MCI) Concord. The following is taken from his memoir about that experience. Other parts of that work, West of Walden, appeared on this site as Odysseus Wandering (on Oct. 4,…

In her newly released second novel, The River is Everywhere, Lowell writer-editor-author Emilie-Noelle Provost takes readers on a roller-coaster coming of age ride that is immersed in the Franco-American culture of the northeast. Ernest Benoit, the 16-year old protagonist, is shattered by the accidental drowning death of his best friend…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 54 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 54: Airlock The return to SFA was devoid of fáilte (1). As soon as Blanche crossed the threshold, Sister Gerald ordered “leave your coat and suitcase here; prayer in the chapel now.” Like an automaton, Blanche set in motion. “It’s as…

Palmer Method Porn By David Daniel It is in the fifth carton Franny’s husband trundles up from the basement. She and Tod are downsizing. It’s a good day for it, snowy outside. So far, they’ve filled six plastic trash bags and have set aside other belongings in piles. Items the…