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Jewels in the Dust
In the pages of this latest collection of downright delicate, often enchanting and occasionally distressing stories from the pen of award-winning Peter Crowther you will encounter:
* two boys who discover an elaborate trap to capture fairies;
* a young musician haunted by the song 'Moonlight In Vermont';
* a small-time crook about to fall under the spell of London while, at the same time, rediscovering his wife;
* a family who happen across a store with a back door that takes you back to your favorite past;
* a Runyon-esque gambler with the strangest set of dice you ever saw;
* a couple jaded with their life together who are re-visited by their collective histories;
* an unusual visitor who rolls in one fall day under cover of a mighty thick fog just to touch base with someone he maybe once knew;
* a dying man who learns that most important of all lessons: his life has been more worthwhile than he realized; and
* a carnival come to visit the small turn-of-the-century Texas town of Gault, there to make a big impression on two young women on the cusp of...well, on the cusp of so many things.
You'll laugh, you'll cry and, by golly, you'll want to sleep with the light on. Don't say we didn t warn you.
* two boys who discover an elaborate trap to capture fairies;
* a young musician haunted by the song 'Moonlight In Vermont';
* a small-time crook about to fall under the spell of London while, at the same time, rediscovering his wife;
* a family who happen across a store with a back door that takes you back to your favorite past;
* a Runyon-esque gambler with the strangest set of dice you ever saw;
* a couple jaded with their life together who are re-visited by their collective histories;
* an unusual visitor who rolls in one fall day under cover of a mighty thick fog just to touch base with someone he maybe once knew;
* a dying man who learns that most important of all lessons: his life has been more worthwhile than he realized; and
* a carnival come to visit the small turn-of-the-century Texas town of Gault, there to make a big impression on two young women on the cusp of...well, on the cusp of so many things.
You'll laugh, you'll cry and, by golly, you'll want to sleep with the light on. Don't say we didn t warn you.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2013
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Peter Crowther
194 books40 followersPeter Crowther, born in 1949, is a journalist, anthologist, and the author of many short stories and novels. He is the co-founder of PS Publishing and the editor of Postscripts.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 3, 2021
Jewels in the Dust is a collection of short stories by Peter Crowther. Publishers’ lore states that single-author collections are death at the box office so you need a high rating to get one put out. Does Crowther deserve the honour? I’ll pick out a few highlights from the collection to show that he does. He certainly does.
The collection opens with two stories about young Tom and Charles, pals who live in a small mid-western town called Forest Plains. In ‘The Bachelor’ Tom visits Old Man Milton, a former school teacher, now a recluse who never married and is a well known local eccentric. This is an exploration of the power of memory and a short, sweet version of Stephen King’s Apt Pupil in which a kid visits an old man for darker reasons. It’s followed by ‘The Fairy Trap’ in which the boys meet an old man who claims he can trap fairies. Not quite my thing but Crowther’s prose carries it off well.
In our modern, selfish age where moving on and finding your own path are all the rage, it’s refreshing to have a story like ‘Old Delicious Burdens’. Geoff and Louise are on the verge of breaking up but one night they are visited by the ghosts of their past selves. A slow starter but very moving. Actually, most of the stories are slow starters. Crowther is one of those writers without a plan who sometimes doodles around with the characters until he finds out where the stories are going. It sort of works as long as the reader is patient.
A failing relationship is also central to ‘The Doorway in Stephenson’s Store’. Jeff Mennark is a comic book fanatic who met and married Lorraine Larruto ‘a dark-haired beauty who reminded him of Lori Lemaris, the comic book mermaid who occasionally vied with Lois Lane and Lana Lang for the attentions of Superman.’ Jeff went into buying and selling comics when the prices started going mad but got in serious financial trouble when the market crashed. Now he and Lorraine are on a road trip to try and forget about it. They come across a run-down general store in the middle of nowhere and find the doorway of the title. As Crowther makes clear in the notes at the end of the book this is a homage to the 1950’s DC comics he adored as a kid. The story is dedicated to Julius Schwartz. It struck a chord with me because I feel the same way about 1960s Marvel comics and it’s a great story. Like his idol Bradbury, Crowther does not renounce or disparage the simple pleasures of childhood but sings their praises. Good for him!
It’s not all cuddly. Crowther can do horror too. ‘Breathing in Faces’ has nice girl Marilyn and pretty, manipulative girl Cindeline going to a carnival that just showed up in town. They see a sign advertising for attractions and Cindy is interested but the sideshow barker tells her it isn’t open for business right now. She tricks her way in and emerges changed. As usual, the small-town America of 1937 is beautifully evoked in dialogue and narrative - ‘pure foolishness’ - and the horror builds slowly. Very good.
It would not be a kindness to give away the plot of ‘Tomorrow Eyes’, narrated in the first person by a gang enforcer in Miami searching for a dentist who does not pay his debts. He meets up with a professional gambler of his acquaintance who has acquired a pair of marbles that he does not wish to keep. Crowther calls this his ‘Damon Runyon’ story because of the style in which it is narrated. I think that it will please both guys and dolls.
The author’s style is unhurried. He meanders a little but the meandering is pleasant to read as he’s a fine stylist with good insight into the human condition. ‘The Musician of Bremen’, for example, about a jazz contest in a southern state of the U.S.A., is one of his favourites according to the notes at the end of the book but I thought it took too long in the telling. On the other hand, it said this: ‘Most of those who turned up didn’t sound like they wanted to play. They sounded like they wanted to succeed...to earn. There’s a difference and it doesn’t make for a good musician.’ Or a good writer. Crowther definitely turns up to play, not to earn (otherwise he’d be doing ten-volume fantasy sagas) and he plays divinely at times.
Sometimes Crowther collaborates, and when he does, as in ‘Dei Gratia’ written with Simon Conway, the tale tends to be a bit more snappy. There are more conversations and fewer poetic descriptions. This is a fantasy about doctors refusing to cure people, letting them die, and Mayor Steve Lander needs to find out why. Blackly comic, if you like that sort of thing, and I do.
Crowther is an English writer, from Leeds, and it seems odd to me that so many of the stories are set in the United States. Admittedly, he’s a passionate admirer of Ray Bradbury and clearly wants to emulate the small-town atmosphere of his hero’s work but that could be found in certain British settings, too. I don’t think this is a marketing choice - he doesn’t seem to be that sort of chap - but rather an artistic decision. As the stories are great, who can argue? I merely point out the anomaly.
I love short stories, I love short story collections and as a bargain basement short story writer myself I especially love them when a gifted author puts notes at the back to tell you about the genesis of the stories. Stephen King does it and Peter Crowther does it as well. The notes are useful for anyone interested in the author and give some insight into his background, values and career progression. He currently runs the successful small press PS Publishing but hopefully still finds time to write.
I had a paperback advanced uncorrected proof on which states it will be $45.00 for the hardcover. However, the book has been sitting in the crowsnest pile for some time. Now that it’s a few years old, this jewel can be found in the dust of online bookshops for much less and it’s worth getting. If you like Ray Bradbury you will probably like Peter Crowther.
The collection opens with two stories about young Tom and Charles, pals who live in a small mid-western town called Forest Plains. In ‘The Bachelor’ Tom visits Old Man Milton, a former school teacher, now a recluse who never married and is a well known local eccentric. This is an exploration of the power of memory and a short, sweet version of Stephen King’s Apt Pupil in which a kid visits an old man for darker reasons. It’s followed by ‘The Fairy Trap’ in which the boys meet an old man who claims he can trap fairies. Not quite my thing but Crowther’s prose carries it off well.
In our modern, selfish age where moving on and finding your own path are all the rage, it’s refreshing to have a story like ‘Old Delicious Burdens’. Geoff and Louise are on the verge of breaking up but one night they are visited by the ghosts of their past selves. A slow starter but very moving. Actually, most of the stories are slow starters. Crowther is one of those writers without a plan who sometimes doodles around with the characters until he finds out where the stories are going. It sort of works as long as the reader is patient.
A failing relationship is also central to ‘The Doorway in Stephenson’s Store’. Jeff Mennark is a comic book fanatic who met and married Lorraine Larruto ‘a dark-haired beauty who reminded him of Lori Lemaris, the comic book mermaid who occasionally vied with Lois Lane and Lana Lang for the attentions of Superman.’ Jeff went into buying and selling comics when the prices started going mad but got in serious financial trouble when the market crashed. Now he and Lorraine are on a road trip to try and forget about it. They come across a run-down general store in the middle of nowhere and find the doorway of the title. As Crowther makes clear in the notes at the end of the book this is a homage to the 1950’s DC comics he adored as a kid. The story is dedicated to Julius Schwartz. It struck a chord with me because I feel the same way about 1960s Marvel comics and it’s a great story. Like his idol Bradbury, Crowther does not renounce or disparage the simple pleasures of childhood but sings their praises. Good for him!
It’s not all cuddly. Crowther can do horror too. ‘Breathing in Faces’ has nice girl Marilyn and pretty, manipulative girl Cindeline going to a carnival that just showed up in town. They see a sign advertising for attractions and Cindy is interested but the sideshow barker tells her it isn’t open for business right now. She tricks her way in and emerges changed. As usual, the small-town America of 1937 is beautifully evoked in dialogue and narrative - ‘pure foolishness’ - and the horror builds slowly. Very good.
It would not be a kindness to give away the plot of ‘Tomorrow Eyes’, narrated in the first person by a gang enforcer in Miami searching for a dentist who does not pay his debts. He meets up with a professional gambler of his acquaintance who has acquired a pair of marbles that he does not wish to keep. Crowther calls this his ‘Damon Runyon’ story because of the style in which it is narrated. I think that it will please both guys and dolls.
The author’s style is unhurried. He meanders a little but the meandering is pleasant to read as he’s a fine stylist with good insight into the human condition. ‘The Musician of Bremen’, for example, about a jazz contest in a southern state of the U.S.A., is one of his favourites according to the notes at the end of the book but I thought it took too long in the telling. On the other hand, it said this: ‘Most of those who turned up didn’t sound like they wanted to play. They sounded like they wanted to succeed...to earn. There’s a difference and it doesn’t make for a good musician.’ Or a good writer. Crowther definitely turns up to play, not to earn (otherwise he’d be doing ten-volume fantasy sagas) and he plays divinely at times.
Sometimes Crowther collaborates, and when he does, as in ‘Dei Gratia’ written with Simon Conway, the tale tends to be a bit more snappy. There are more conversations and fewer poetic descriptions. This is a fantasy about doctors refusing to cure people, letting them die, and Mayor Steve Lander needs to find out why. Blackly comic, if you like that sort of thing, and I do.
Crowther is an English writer, from Leeds, and it seems odd to me that so many of the stories are set in the United States. Admittedly, he’s a passionate admirer of Ray Bradbury and clearly wants to emulate the small-town atmosphere of his hero’s work but that could be found in certain British settings, too. I don’t think this is a marketing choice - he doesn’t seem to be that sort of chap - but rather an artistic decision. As the stories are great, who can argue? I merely point out the anomaly.
I love short stories, I love short story collections and as a bargain basement short story writer myself I especially love them when a gifted author puts notes at the back to tell you about the genesis of the stories. Stephen King does it and Peter Crowther does it as well. The notes are useful for anyone interested in the author and give some insight into his background, values and career progression. He currently runs the successful small press PS Publishing but hopefully still finds time to write.
I had a paperback advanced uncorrected proof on which states it will be $45.00 for the hardcover. However, the book has been sitting in the crowsnest pile for some time. Now that it’s a few years old, this jewel can be found in the dust of online bookshops for much less and it’s worth getting. If you like Ray Bradbury you will probably like Peter Crowther.
October 17, 2013
Ultimately, the stories that will stay with me the longest are the three that deal directly with mortality. “Circling the Drain,” “Jewels in the Dust” and “Thoughtful Breaths” all offer different, painful perspectives on the final struggle with terminal cancer. Despite that dark subject, the stories somehow manage to inspire hope and a sweet, wistful sense of wonder. It’s that odd combination of sentiments that drives Jewels in the Dust, even if it occasionally takes the scenic route to get there.
Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!
Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!
August 2, 2013
This is a very impressive collection ranging from straight fiction to fantasy and horror. Thematically, it's interested in events leading up to death and what may happen afterwards with some genuinely unsentimental but moving stories about how people cope with the prospect and reality of death.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews