How I Came to Haunt My Parents

by Natalee Caple

How I Came to Haunt My Parents is storytelling for parents on the verge of a nervous breakdown. In this beautifully written suite of short fiction Natalee Caple explores fables from the dark side of adulthood and imagines what moral Aesop may have offered to a mother who gave birth to a murderous dictator. Caple’s animals and humans are imbued with modern complexity as they confront sex, death, and history, but her stories are as witty as they are profoundly lucid.How I Came to Haunt My Parents is proof of Caple’s status as one of the great prose stylists currently writing. Praise for Natalee Caple“Moving…unsettling.” —The New York Times on The Heart Has Its Own Reason"A brilliant story-teller." —D.M. Thomas, author of The White Hotel"Natalee Caple writes with sensual and captivating detail of people whose dreams drive them to unanticipated extremities." —Catherine Bush, author of The Rules of Engagement

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2011

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caple's book is only available as an ebook, which was interesting and fun for me. I read it on my Sony Reader (soon to be replaced if the gadget god look down upon me with tablet benevolence) and was struck by the eclectic nature of the stories. Many deal with parenting, either from the kid's or parent's perspective and really get in to the role of love in parenting. Some of the pieces (and I know some back story) have a really autobiographical drive that finds expression in the frustration the author/narrator feels in finding the right way to say something really, really important. Other tales have a more mythic feel going on, especially those near the end of the collection. I like this book - Caple is a strong, imaginative writer whose attention to form and detail never lags.

[Jonathan Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, stunning, lyrical, haunting in the best sense. Caple's best book by far.