Murmurations

by Andrea Rinard

In twenty-five short stories, Andrea Rinard introduces an eclectic group of women attempting to claim their own space and to find meaning in the mundanity of relationships, eating, shopping, grieving, searching, and dropping a kid off at college. Stark, spare, sometimes surreal, but always lit with a spark of truth, these stories are at once amusing and infuriating, comforting and heartbreaking, and always familiar.

116 pages, Paperback

Published June 6, 2023

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea Rinard’s collection: Murmurations packs 26 lightning-fast stories, each told from the perspective of a Florida Women.

I thought they’d be best read and savored individually, but like a bag of kettle chips, I devoured them in one setting. so much intimacy in these stories, such concision and emotional resonance. We jump through time and crisscross the state into everyday moments and not-so-everyday – a sociopath at her prom on Clearwater Beach – a future after a hurricane wipes civilization off Florida and “a whole circus’s worth of animals parades out of the Everglades.”

I caught myself several times sighing: “Wow.”

Rinard is a master at delivering bite sized stories that pack a peanut-butter-jelly gut punch. She takes us on an active shooter drill in Sixth Period, and then to a grandmother burning in Delayed Combustion. All the while, we’re grounded in place. As a fellow Floridian, I felt an authentic familiarity, the rotten egg smell of well water, the rustle of palmettos that in firelight turns opossums to dinosaurs. “Probably just an armadillo, but she felt watched. Felt seen.”

[Caryn Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful collection of short stories that beautifully captures the essence of womanhood. Each story evokes a range of emotions, from tears to laughter, while also sparking nostalgic reflections on childhood and adolescence. Reading this collection was an absolute joy.

[Amy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an author with a masterful command of craft and a compassionate heart.

[Courtney Leftwich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly moving and beautiful stories. Cannot recommend it enough!

[Sheri Zamot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in awe. My heart aches with so many different emotions. It has renewed my faith in great writing. Bravo 🙌🏼

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful vignettes of womanhood in Florida. Mothers, mermaids, murderers.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rinard’s prose is as sure-footed as it is wise, and this collection makes it clear that she’s a writer to watch.