Learning to Fly

by Rachel Elizabeth Cole

This collection of short stories combines five of Rachel Elizabeth Cole's touching stories.


In "Fallen Leaves," a woman must come to terms with the bad blood between her dead husband's grandmother and herself. In "Listen to the Rain," a young couple going through a rough patch struggles to find happiness. In "Caring For Lily," a young mother wrestles with her decision to return to work. In "For Good or For Bad," a dissatisfied wife must decide if she'll risk everything for her ex-boyfriend. In "Is This Seat Taken?," two strangers connect briefly in a bus station.


Heartfelt, bittersweet, and poignant, these short stories explore the moments where we spread our fledgling wings, take that leap, and learn to fly.

ebook

First published August 21, 2012

About the author

Rachel Elizabeth Cole loves bunnies, tea, autumn, and working in her pyjamas. She lives just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband, their two sons, and two very spoiled house rabbits.

Along with children's books, she also writes literary women's fiction and chicklit. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines both online and in print.

Reviews

[Nancy Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning to Fly is a book of short stories with characters that are well developed, relatable and oh so real. They are stories that tell of a difficult moment in people’s lives. In Fallen Leaves, there is the widowed mother who must consider taking in a difficult, elderly in-law. The question is why? Listen to the Rain, is about a young pregnant couple that must learn whether it’s worth surviving past the chapter in their lives when neither of them say what they mean to and end the day in arguments. The character I related to most was the mother in Caring for Lily who is trying to find a daycare for her baby so she can return to work – truly that’s what she wants, right? Then there’s the blogger in For Good or For Bad with a good husband and two children, but who can’t stop thinking about the one who got away. Finally, there’s Is This Seat Taken? where a young pregnant woman at a bus station meets a young college guy. Are they both lost and looking to find their way?

As I stated above, the characters are real and the book is well written. What was most amiss for me was that to me they weren’t short stories, but excerpts of longer pieces, as none of them was a complete story. It seemed to be what the author intended, but I was always of the belief that a short story has a beginning, middle and end. These all lacked an ending, some more than others. The last story was the most mystifying. It was unknown what the conflict was and why the pregnant woman was at the bus station. At least with the other stories, you could think of how the stories could turn out and dream up possible endings. For the last one, however, since it’s unsure what the conflict was, you have no idea what might happen.

Still, Rachel Elizabeth Cole is a very good writer who is great at character development, something I admire in a writer. I would be interested in reading a complete novel by her to see how she does finalize stories.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of short stories. In every case, though the story is short, the author pulls the reader right into the story. The characters and their stories are real ones abut everyday life and hardships. The author has managed to put forth a setting, develop characters and also insert in a plot in a short amount of time and space. This is the biggest challenge for the short story writer, and the author has met this challenge successfully. These stories are each separate and can be read separately, whenever the reader has a short spurt of free time. Since that is often my case, I welcome a book like this one. It is only an added bonus to find such good stories within the book. I highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys good writing and good short stories (or to anyone who even does not particularly care for short stories—these are good). I received this book from Library Thing to read and review.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning to Fly by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
Lot of stories with different subjects
Fallen Leaves
The grandmother that took in her husband as a child and raised him has fallen and in the hospital gets pneumonia and dies.
Her family is together and they learn how the father dies.
.
Listen to the Rain
Husband is overwhelmed with a new wife, baby on the way and he leaves work to apply for another job because he needs more money...
.
Caring for Lily
Looking for a daycare for Lily.
.
For Good and for Bad
She will always wonder about her old boyfriend even though now she is married...
.
Is This Seat Taken
Bus station where one is heading home from college and the other is on her way to LA.
.
Enjoyed this collection as it deals with everyday hardships..

[Linie Sherrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy enjoyable read. Rachel has a way of pulling you right into the lives of her characters and their experiences. All five stories entertained me to the point of finishing the whole book in one sitting. Beautiful work! Thank YOU!