Ordinary Perils: Stories

by Ann Robinson

A lonely secretary schemes to kidnap a young stranger to replace the baby she lost in utero and a woman's far-flung pursuit of her graduate degree has spooky consequences--these are two of the less-than-ordinary perils encountered in Ann Robinson's debut collection. Elsewhere, more commonplace situations pit mothers against adolescent daughters while couples navigate the choppy waters of middle age, sisters struggle to bridge the gap created by family trauma, and cantankerous seniors try the patience of their exasperated offspring.

188 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I have said before, I am not a short story reader anymore. This volume of short stories represent ordinary people with ordinary lives and the foible and flaws we have. The title fits the theme/content perfectly. I'm in my mid 40's so I was able to connect to the stories because they deal with issues of putting parents in nursing homes, suffering from a miscarriage and not being able to have more children, etc. A younger person probably would not have cared about the stories - no connections to be made.

My book club chose the book and the author came to our meeting so that was fun. I do appreciate the author's simplistic, understated style - it matched the content well. And I appreciate the message - ordinary life/tasks/people suffer from dangers - of the heart, of love and loss, of letting go of memories, etc.