The Library

by Karen A. Wyle

Rachel has few memories of love or safety. All her short life, she found refuge in reading. Now, in the afterlife, she is shown a wonderful library, where she can curl up in comfort, and lose herself in books. But Rachel has other choices. She could be examining the life she left, or exploring places she never had the chance to see. Can a new friend who understands her sorrow help her to leave the shelter of the library, and open herself to the people and places beyond? This short story, set in the same afterlife as the novel Wander Home, introduces the reader to the features of that afterlife, as well as to the character Cassidy from the novel.

23 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 30, 2013

About the author

Karen A. Wyle is the author of multiple science fiction novels, including The Twin-Bred Series: Books 1-3; YA novel Water to Water; and near-future novels Division, Playback Effect, Who: a novel of the near future, and Donation. Her first novel outside the SF category was the afterlife fantasy/family drama Wander Home. She then turned to historical romance with her Cowbird Creek series, including What Heals the Heart, What Frees the Heart, What Shows the Heart, and What Wakes the Heart. She returned to fantasy with 2023's Far From Mortal Realms: A Novel of Humans and Fae. Her novel The Decision/A Novel of Germany is inspired by a crucial incident in her own family history. Her latest novel, That The Dead May Rest, comes out on October 17, 2025 -- a good month for a paranormal story!

Wyle has also published one nonfiction work, Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers, a resource for authors or for anyone interested in understanding more about American law. An updated and slightly retitled edition came out at the end of July 2021.

Finally, Wyle has collaborated with illustrators on five picture books: You Can't Kiss A Bubble; When It's Winter; Wind, Ocean, Grass; Where Fireflies Sleep; and A Boy Who Made Music/The Extraordinary Life of Joaquin Rodrigo. There are more to come!

Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age ten, she was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age nine.

Wyle is a retired appellate attorney, dormant photographer, and mother of two wildly creative adult offspring. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Wyle's near-future novels and her upcoming fantasy novel draw on her legal experience in various respects.

Wyle's personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written piece that gives you the sense of surrealism. I like how each characters personalities are potrayed through the book.