The Firefly Dance

by Sarah Addison Allen, Kathryn Magendie, Augusta Trobaugh

Bright lights flicker in the dark evenings of summer. Pinpoints of hope float against the black descent of night. The sweetest of small and innocent creatures finds its way through the shadows. Fireflies seem to dance on sheer air, illuminating the space between heartbeats.Children give off a similar brave glow, despite the challenges of their young lives. The lessons of childhood are often painful, the shedding of fragile wings in the gloam of an uncertain future. These rich novellas are small jewels reflecting the essence of what it means to grow up dancing among the shadows of life, carrying a brave, small beacon because you know that even the brightest days always, always, end in darkness.Childhood can be so sweetly sad and sadly sweet, profound and deceptively easy to categorize, yet poignant to remember.New York Times bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen (GARDEN SPELLS, SUGAR QUEEN, THE PEACH KEEPER) anchors THE FIREFLY DANCE with her wistful and funny novella about Louise, a North Carolina girl whose keen observations of the lives around her weaves an unforgettable spell with just a hint of everyday magic.Phyllis Schieber's Sonya, a child of Holocaust survivors, is confronted with the responsibilities of her legacy when she has a poignant encounter with a classmate, another child of survivors, and her mother, in a local shop in their 1970's New York neighborhood.Kathryn Magendie's Petey deals wryly with her family's move from the cool blue mountains of North Carolina to the hot flatlands of Texas.Augusta Trobaugh's stoic Georgia boy leads us through his surreal encounter with a mysterious backwoods toddler who turns out to be anything but ordinary.

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Short Stories, Fantasy, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Anthologies

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2011

About the author

New York Times Bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen brings the full flavor of her southern upbringing to bear on her fiction - a captivating blend of magical realism and small-town sensibility.

Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Allen grew up with a love of books and an appreciation of good food (she credits her journalist father for the former and her mother, a fabulous cook, for the latter). In college, she majored in literature - because, as she puts it, "I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate."

After graduation, Allen began writing seriously. Her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Allen's accomplished debut "spellbindingly charming." The novel became a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and then a New York Times Bestseller.

Allen continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as "Southern-fried magic realism." Clearly, it's a recipe readers are happy to eat up as fast as she can dish it out.

-From B&N.com

Her published books to date are: Garden Spells (2007), The Sugar Queen (2008), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010), The Peach Keeper (2011), Lost Lake (2014), First Frost (2015) and Other Birds (2022) and Paper Ghosts (2026).

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm about to say this because I love SAA so much...but I actually preferred the story Petey by Kathryn Magendie - it completely tore me out of the seat on the long train ride home and transported me into the hills of North Carolina and the flat, hot desert of Forth Worth. The story was simple but so effective as a reflection of everyday life through a childs eyes, where her home is her sanctuary and her parents are everything.

A fantastic collection of stories, highly recommended for anyone who loves Miss Allen's famous, enchanting novels.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title itself, The Firefly Dance, evokes an image of a warm summer evening — beautiful and breezeless. Fireflies flitter in the dusk like jewels against a velvet sky. And like fireflies the novellas contained within the folds of this unique collection brought me smiles, magical wonderment and tears.

Sarah Addison Allen’s In My Dreams was the first novella I read. I had read all of her novels with the exception of this one. I dove into it expecting a luscious read. Luscious does not begin to express the beauty of In My Dreams nor the characters Allen created.

This lovely tale is told in the voice of Louise about her, her mother, her Great Aunt Sophie and a rich array of characters including her dog Lazarus that she seemingly brought back from the dead.

You will love Great Aunt Sophie who drank her Coca-Colas as if they were champagne and who kept her hair permed to curls tight against her head with a roundness that brings to mind Christmas peppermints. Great Aunt Sophie was like a rock in her magical family: strong and steadfast.

“I knew arguing with her would be like throwing a stone up to try to hurt the sky. She was that vast and unshakeable.”

It is through Louise’s eyes that I learned about her family’s complex past. The stories flow from the characters who give her life texture and show her the many ways loves comes into her life, teaching and enriching it. The final line exemplifies this and all of Allen’s writing.

“Then the only thing left is a door full of sunshine.”

The grim legacy of past atrocities permeates the pages of Phyllis Schieber’s short story The Stocking Store and an excerpt from her novel The Manicurist. The survivors of the Holocaust and their children live with the knowledge that their safety exists as a veneer cloaking the reality of past atrocities.

“I am more surprised to see people without numbers on their forearms than I am to see people with them. But the skin on Toby’s mother’s arm is as thin as parchment. I feel the need to look away from Toby and her mother. The people I know are lively and spirited. It often seems as if they have to make up for everything they lost.”

The shadow of their past must not dim nor be forgotten; a shift from one generation to the next will carry hope, love and awareness with them and into the future. These themes run through each line of Schieber’s writing. Layer upon layer of lovely, painful, sweet poignancy slowed my reading causing me to pause, imagine and contemplate the value of learning from the past so it will not be allowed to reoccur.

In Schieber’s work knowledge shifts from one generation to the next to carry hope, love and awareness into the future. Her writing solidifies her theme of never forgetting while moving forward.

Kathryn Magendie fills the pages of her novella Petey with the humanity of her main character Petey, her little brother, her father, her mother and their friend Anna to delight and captivate the reader with each new experience.

The Graham family’s ties to North Carolina, its mountains, its plants, its animals, its flowing streams and its wonderful people give their life stability. Their Smokey Mountain valley laden with cool mists to them is a dear friend embracing them with love and security.

But insidiously cracks wend their into the foundation of their lives. The textile mill where Petey’s father works lays off its workers, other jobs disappear forcing the family to face a harsh reality. Their idyllic life lovingly created with their own hands, their flourishing garden and their incomparable world falters and falls under grinding change and loss. A house filled with joy, beauty and love faces a harrowing future. To survive they must go work awaits — Texas.

The vast, flat, dry Texas landscape is the stage upon which the Graham family must face tragedy, learn to survive and ultimately open their hearts to a world never envisioned by any of them in their beloved North Carolina.

Petey will transport you into the heart of the Graham family, their pain and their jubilance.

In Augusta Trobaugh’s Resurrection, it’s the boy’s summer before the fall of his sixth grade year. The boy’s father buys a steak each day, insists that the brother who will enter high school in the fall eat it nearly raw as his father observes. The theory is that it’ll beef him up for football tryouts. His mother goes about wiping her face on her apron. The boy wonders if it’s because all the smoke from the steaks she cooks makes her eyes water. His grandmamma cares for nothing except her evangelist television programs. No one pays much attention to anything the boy does except for grandmama who casts her eternal query.

“Boy, have you found Jesus yet?”
“No ma’am.” That’s what I always answer, but what I really want to say is, “Why? Is Jesus lost or something?”
But I don’t.

The boy, whose name is never used, gets to thinking about his grandmamma's obsession with finding Jesus. She shoots out words. Sin! Hell! Redemption! Grace! They soar through the air as if she’s a sharp shooter intent on hitting her target.

These words get the boy to thinking. He’ll become like Stanley looking for Dr. Livingston. Since Stanley found Livingston, boy just might find Jesus.

The dangerous journey in search of Jesus entails following a scary and mysterious road, trekking through a church cemetery, the creek where those who found Jesus would get their baptismal dunking and most fearsome of all — facing the terrible Tobey family where everything horrible could and did happen.

Jesus isn’t easy to find. The road the boy takes leads him to find a startling incarnation of Jesus resurrected in an oddly strange and colorful way.

The Firefly Dance sparkles with stories about growing up, attaining wisdom and discovering the power and strength of individuals and families.

Originally published Clear Eyes Full Shelves
http://cleareyesfullshelves.com/blog/...

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

1- The Stocking Store by Phyllis Schieber
2- Petey by Kathryn Magendie
3- Resurrection by Augusta Trobaugh
4- In My Dreams by Sarah Addison Allen
5- The Manicurist by Phyllis Schieber

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bought this book because I love Sarah Addison Allen's books. She has a short story in this one, and it's the best of the bunch, but that isn't saying much. At least one story is completely baffling to me, the others are just odd. Not worth the read, much less the buy.

Update 2024: As my memory is horrible, I got this out of the library because Ms Allen had written one of the stories. Image my surprise when I'd already written a review. It has not changed. I don't own a copy any longer. Donated it somewhere.

[Irene Bue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just don't think I'm an anthology fan. First story did not grab me.

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Book of Stories

I really enjoyed the different stories in this book. The characters were great and created an entertaining story in each one.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthology Average rating is 4.375 stars. Very good anthology.

1. "The Stocking Store" by Phyllis Schieber. A child (but maybe really child(ren)) of Holocaust survivors meet at soon to be closing store. And when confronted by this knowledge of maybe one parent perhaps both, she chooses to remember the closed stores but I'm thinking maybe more than that. Super sad. 5 stars.

2. "Petey" by Kathryn Mugendie. A really sweet story about a family trying to survive the things that life throws at you and end up growing and becoming closer. Loved it. The length was really close to full book size. I wonder if the author will republish it as such. 5 stars.

3. "Resurrection" by Augusta Trobaugh. I'm confused by this story. Is it religious? Is there a death? And why the one at the end? Or was he dead already? If not, why did he deserve the same treatment as the other two? So, since I'm confused - 2-1/2 stars.

4. "Fly By Night" by Sarah Addison Allen. Wonderful, sad, sweet book. It left me teary-eyed. I just loved it. 5 stars.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short story collection, contains four stories, all told from the viewpoint of childhood. Easy to read, my favorite was Petey, loved the magical realism in that one as well as the characters. Sarah Addison Allen is a favorite author of mine, and while I did like that characters of Louise and Aunt Sophie, thought my usual feeling of wonder was not there. ARC from NetGalley.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not realize this was a book of shot stories, not really into short stories. I did enjoy the ones by Sarah, she has a special way of making characters real and keeping your attention.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially bought this collection of short stories because I'm such a huge fan of Sarah Addison Allen's work. And while I didn't completely love her story in this anthology, I did really enjoy one of the other stories.

The first story was very short, but poignant. It didn't have much of plot, and you learn very little about the characters, but we do briefly catch a glimpse of the suffering endured by the Holocaust survivors, and even by the next generation. Also a bit of sadness towards the end of the story when you realize how much time changes things--how you can leave home and return and find it so modernized that it's nearly unrecognizable.

The second story was the longest and by far and away my favorite. The characters were so vibrant and I just really enjoyed following Petey's journey, both through life, and back and forth from the mountains, to the Texas plains, back to the mountains again.

The third story I just didn't understand at all. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure if the boy died, or if he was dreaming the entire story. I just didn't get this one and I was thankful it was very short.

The final story was the one I'd been waiting for, Sarah Addison Allen's story. And while I enjoyed it, I didn't nearly enjoy it so much as the second story, nor as much as I expected to. I think what I've always enjoyed about Sarah Addison Allen's stories was the little bit of fantasy and magic and that was missing from this story. Still heartwarming, with strong characters, just not what I've come to expect from Sarah Addison Allen.

[Lisette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't like collections of short stories, but thought I should try it because I like the books by Sarah Addison Allen. I was disappointed. The stories lacked the magical feeling I was hoping for. The stories were okay, just different than I expected. The only story I loved was "Petey" by Kathryn Mugendie. It to me a bit to get into the story, but after that I just wanted to keep reading. I'll certainly read more by this author.

[Olga Godim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Anne Rife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Addison Allen's contribution is 5 stars. Her prose are so wonderful.

[Karla Dinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

All short stories good but I liked Petey the by

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This pleasant anthology contains four short stories of quite varying lengths. Of the four authors represented in the book, Sarah Addison Allen was the only one I had read before, and I picked up the anthology for her story. Although I enjoyed her story, "In My Dreams," I was surprised to find that my favorite one in the book was "Petey" by Kathryn Magendie. I was less impressed with the two shorter stories in the book, but the two longer ones made it worthwhile for me.

The first story in the book, "Petey," is about a young girl whose family reluctantly moves a long distance so that her father can find work. They encounter tragedy, and Petey wonders if her family will ever be happy again. I found this to be a very touching story, and would like to read more by Kathryn Magendie

"The Stocking Store" was the shortest story in the book, and although interesting, I think this story that touched on a daughter and her mother who was a survivor of a Nazi prison camp was just too short for me. In the few pages of this story, I liked the main character, but there was not time for much development of characters or plot. I would be interested in reading something longer by Phyllis Scheiber.

Augusta Trobaugh's contribution to the book, Resurrection, was the story in the book that I connected with least. It was also very short, and a bit confusing. In this story, a young girl encounters a seemingly lost toddler and tries to find where he belongs. I would try her work again, but with a bit more hesitation than with the other authors in the book.

"In My Dreams," by Sarah Addison Allen features a young woman from a very small town and her relationship with her mother and her great aunt "Sophie." I enjoyed the story quite a lot, but didn't feel the charm and magic that her full length books have.

The Firefly Dance has some enjoyable stories, and I am glad I read the book. I would be interested in reading more by most of these authors, and thought that a couple of the stories were quite good. I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley.

[Beckyloohoo Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ aka Mrs. Acheron Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy this book for review from NetGalley.

This book is actually a collection of 4 short stories written by different authors. They are not meant to be sweet or pretty memories, but rather more like lessons learned in childhood that were carried over into adulthood. Each story is different in it's theme and length and well-written. However, I would have liked to have seen the stories have some underlying common theme to them to help feel like they were connected in some way. As it is, I felt like they were kind of random. The second story was quite long and I felt it rambled much more than it needed to. I felt like I was pushing myself to finish it. The third story was a little confusing for me so even though I read it I still don't feel like I know what it was really about.

I think that the problem might lie in me, not the stories. These are not the typical stories that I read but it sounded interesting, so I wanted to try it. The stories themselves were well-written for the most part, but I think just not for me.

[Naomi Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Sarah Addison Allen's writing, and when this book popped up on my radar, I realized there was something of hers out there I hadn't read! Luckily, all the authors really brought great stories, so while I bought the book just for one author, I lucked out! The four stories in this book are poignant memories told from all different points of view. You have Phyllis Schieber's "The Stocking Store", how a teen sees her world through observing other people. Kathryn Mugendie's "Petey" shows the strength of a young girl who has to move with her family to a new state for her father's job. Loss, homesickness, strength, family, and friends are center at different times in this story, and is really well written. Augusta Trobaugh's "Resurrection" shows a dysfunctional family and a young boy's way of dealing, and Sarah Addison Allen's "Fly By Night" is the view of a young girl growing up during happiness, loss, and how family gets her through it.

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Allen's books immensely, just not a fan off anthologies anymore.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this because of Sarah Addison Allen, and did enjoy her series of short stories, although they weren't quite as magical as her novels.

The real gem here, though, is the novella by Kathryn Magendie. Petey's has been through a lot recently as her father lost his job and then moved the family from North Caroline to Texas. Seeing life's challenges through the eyes of a young girl in the late 60s was an unexpectedly enjoyable. I *will* be looking up this author.

The short stories by Phyllis Schieber were good but not particularly memorable. Didn't care for the story by Augusta Trobaugh.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were sort of weird stories ... kind of undecided about them. They were fairly well written, and Sarah Addison Allen is one of my favorite authors ... but these were just ok. They were written by several different authors, including SAA, and while they were rather delightful snippets into some everyday lives, expressing some of the Magic of living, they were not phenomenal or particularly wonderful.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were average stories. There were two that moved me, but not enough to give this book a higher rating. There was a weirdness to these books; I don't know if I can explain it, but these were not feel good stories by ANY stretch of the imagination and more than once I was just sitting here scratching my head wondering WHAT THE HECK was going on. A very strange assembly for sure.

[Austine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read at least two of the authors in this collection previously. Unfortunately this was not a great representation of either of their skills. I was just hoping for more as I adore short stories and the authors I was familiar with.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories are not really my thing but most of these weren’t bad. I didn’t bother reading the excerpt from The Manicurist at the end.

The stocking store: A melancholy story about a young woman shopping at the stocking store once all the other stores of her youth, the button store, the umbrella store, the toy store, are all gone. In the store, they encounter a friend and her mother. The mother is a holocaust survivor who have never gotten over the death of her eldest daughter. Shortly thereafter, the stocking store closes and the young woman’s mother is worried that no one will remember the old stores but the daughter promises that she will remember. The stores being a metaphor for the holocaust.
Petey: I almost gave up on this one because it was so long and nothing seemed to be happening for a while. Petey, short for Petunia, and her family have to move from their beloved home in the mountains of North Carolina to Texas for her father’s job. Once there, their hose is much smaller, her mother has a still birth and falls into depression and Petey is unable to make any friends. Soon they befriend their neighbor, Anne, whose parents have died so she becomes an adopted daughter, pulling Perry’s mother out of her depression. Eventually they move back to NC and they open a bakery.
Resurrection: As a boy, he finds a toddler alone in a cemetery and takes care of it as they search for the family. Too short to make anything of this one.
In my dreams: A novella which is part coming of age and part aging with grace. When we first meet Louise, she is a child staying overnight at Great Aunt Sophie’s house after her father’s funeral. We never learn how he died but we know that she is worried about her mom who is home next door. She and Sophie discuss death and missing those who died, like Sophie misses her husband, Harry. The next chapter flashes forward a few years to her mom’s marriage to Reverend Joe, who lets Louise keep a stray dog who stole her mother’s wedding shoes. They name him Lazarus. Next up is a few years later when Louise meets her grandfather for the first and last time. And then we finish up with Sophia’s friends worrying about her when she is later for their weekly appointment at the hair salon. She can’t drive and rides her bike, did she get into an accident? She sweeps in late, complaining about a flat tire, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. When she has to hang up her bike, Louise is old enough to drive her to her appointments and finally takes the time to truly listen to her advice and life stories. Never marry a man who can’t dance.

[Jeanette "Josie" Cook M.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of short stories to read slowly and savor the flavor of each one because they do have individual themes and voices. Each one is written by a different author and they convey their style and their unique penmanship.

The capture of time in the first one still comes to mind with Schieber's stocking store and her poetic sentences as she echoes the past with such detail. Her characters are beautifully full-bodied and convey the story in a lovely manner.

Magendie's story of Petey is another one that has a specific time in mind as she tells her characters' story of their struggle with relocation and how it is often the topic of their lives as they live them. There is beauty in her words as she describes the homeland of this family and their love for it.

Allen's story is alive with the flavor of family ties and how it has bearing on the members of the family unit. The ending of this story is exquisite and beautiful with Aunt Sophie telling her story to Louise. The story tells Louise's story and how she is affected by the changes in her life. A mother that has been through a lot and her rebirth through a new relationship are touched on as Louise grows up and finds the truth through her aunt's eyes and her stories. There is often a repetition in this one so much like a Welty short story in many ways to drive home the theme and point of the story. However, Allen is more revealing in her manner.

The book ends with an excerpt of The Manicurist by Schieber. It is a wonderful section that pulls the reader in and makes me want to read on about her characters and see what their story really involves as I think about the main character's mother.

Overall, this is a wonderful slim volume with a unique flavor inside each story, beautiful time periods, and special places. I love the cover and the title and how each writer has a voice of their own.

[Lotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit disappointing. First of all, you don't get what you're promised. The cover says The Firefly Dance contains four novellas, but that's not true. Instead you get one novella, two short stories, and one novella-length collection of interconnected short stories. I really enjoyed Petey by Kathryn Magendie, it was a sweet and funny, and very relatable story about how things change as you grow up. The two short stories just weren't my cup of tea. They weren't bad, but I didn't really like it. And Allen's "novella" was really underwhelming, which was the most disappointing thing about the whole book. I absolutely adore her other books. I've read most a few times, and they're some of my all-time favorites. But this novella read more like the mini short stories she regularly posts on social media. It just wasn't a real story in my opinion. It wasn't bad but it just missed its usual flair of magic, its drama.
But overall I'm still giving it three stars because Petey was such a good story.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a collection of short stories/novellas by several authors - and I only recognized two names, and read their stories: Sarah Addison Allen (love her!) and Augusta Trobaugh (like her).
Allen's series of chapters are vignettes with the same characters, and were utterly delightful. Set in the South, and told (mostly) through the eyes of Louise, it's somewhat of a nostalgic coming-of-age story. I absolutely adored Great Aunt Sophie (who reminded me just a little of my favorite character in juvenile literature, Richard Peck's Grandma Dowdel). I was sad when her chapters came to an end, because I wanted to hear more stories of Great Aunt Sophie and Louise! Sarah Addison Allen is simply wonderful.
Augusta Trobaugh's story, "Resurrection," was beautifully written and moving, and yet, as it went on, it became confusing and perhaps mystical? I'm still not totally clear on what happened.
I didn't read the other stories.
But I recommend this book for Sarah Addison Allen's chapters!

[penelopewanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm generally a big fan of Sarah Addison Allen's book, and enjoy the slightly magic aspect to them. I see a line on the cover that says that this is "Four novellas about growing wise and growing up". Ah. Hardly a hint of magic in the whole book, and there was just as much a mood of growing old as there was of growing up.
This was an anthology, with the last novella more a taster than a complete work. It was an interesting sampling from the various authors, but none of the stories particularly blew me away. The premise of the first one was intriguing, but I was confused by the timing - apparently we were dealing with daughters of women who had been in concentration camps during WWII... but the mood seemed contemporary. It could have gone further. That is, generally my problem with novellas and short stories - just when you're all in, it ends. And the last one didn't even try to conclude.
If I hadn't read this, I would have wanted to, so now I have.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought the book cuz it was the last story by Sarah Addison Allen that I hadn’t read. Her story for what it was I enjoyed, but it was probably my least favorite of her work and didn’t have any of her usual magical realism.
The best story in the book was Phyllis Schieber’s Manicurist, but it was just a damn part of an actual book. So I don’t know what happens, ugh.
The Stocking Store was OK but short.
Petey by Katherine Magendie I couldn’t even finish. I gave up after pages and pages of describing the little girl in the gas station bathroom. Who wants to read that, I’m a grown woman and this is supposed to interest me? Uh, nope! And I skim read through the rest of the story just to see a bunch more ridiculousness that wasn’t worth my time and was glad I went no further in.
And Resurrection by Augusta Trobaugh was so stupid. How it comes out in the end made me laugh in a aggravated way to have read the whole story for that ending.

[Renuka Gavrani · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Sarah. Like I am seriously in love with Sarah's book and God forbid me for saying this but I didn't like this book. Maybe it's my fault that I blindly picked up the book without first seeing that this is a short story collection of different authors. While I LOVED Sarah's short story yet I didn't find the comfort that every other book of Sarah's carries. I feel like someone cheated on me when I was reading the book. I have read 7 books by Sarah (including this) and I loved 'Garden Spells' and I am always thinking about 'The Peach Keeper' and of course, 'The Sugar Queen' was amazing. But somehow, this book didn't have a single shed of Sarah. It didn't carry the magic that Sarah's books create. Disappointed. Yet I am on my way to read 'First Frost'. Hope that book can make up for me.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I've read all Sarah Addison Allen's books and love her writing. This collection of short stories was interesting but definitely not as magical as SAA's books. I enjoyed the story of Petey the most. Phyllis Schieber's stories were also good, but I didn't care for the one by Augusta Trobaugh.
1- The Stocking Store by Phyllis Schieber
2- Petey by Kathryn Magendie
3- Resurrection by Augusta Trobaugh
4- In My Dreams by Sarah Addison Allen
5- The Manicurist by Phyllis Schieber