ADEL: A NOVEL IN LINKED STORIES

by Bruce J. Berger

A NOVEL IN LINKED STORIES is a collection of 17 stories that run from the abuse of Adel's mother in 1912 to the burgeoning romance between Adel and her former psychiatrist, Nikki Covo, in 1960. The Literary Lollipop has said that the first story -- “Nate & Adel” -- "is especially touching. Nate’s sense of loyalty to his daughter is so sweet and genuine, but wonderfully unique.” The stories take Adel's life and tribulations forward and also look back at the brutality of war and racism, as experienced by Norm Williams, an African American, during World Wars I and II; allow Adel to describe in her own words the daily strain of mental illness, the glimmers of hope emerging in her group therapy and her job with Norm, and her ultimate despair at the recognition of the evil forces that conspired against her. The author himself enters two of the stories as a character to pump Adel for information. Three stories show Nikki as a youth in Holocaust-torn Greece. These 17 stories are also available separate in the four collections under the "Nate & Adel" rubric, but they are now available together for the first time, at great savings. Compared to buying each of the four collections at $2.99, the reader will save 50% by buying the entire 17-story set at $5.98.
Bruce J. Berger has published numerous short stories and poems in print and on-line. His story "He Had to Go," published in the inaugural issue of Prole in 2010, was described as "a minute character study" by NewPages.com; the publishers of "Dear Grandpa," Eastown Fiction, called his story "Dear Grandpa" a "stirring piece, touching at a core conflict in all of our lives, ... pulling us into the plight [of his character] with fantastic details and a story real enough to have been told by one of our neighbors." Berger's story "The Diary of Ellie Schwartz" won an honorable mention in a Glimmer Train competition.
Bruce J. Berger has attended writer's workshops sponsored by the Gettysburg Review and the Tinker Mountain Writer's Workshop at Hollins University. He will shortly be attending his third writer's conference, at Colgate University. He has been a frequent participant in writer's workshops at the Writers' Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

221 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2015

About the author

Following a 40-year career as a trial attorney in Washington, DC., Bruce J. Berger turned full-time to writing, earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University, and now teaches there. His first novel, The Flight of the Veil, is a sequel to The Music Stalker and achieved critical success, winning a Bronze Award in General Fiction from Illumination Christian Book Awards. Kirkus Reviews called The Flight of the Veil “A well-crafted tale about trauma and miracles. Get it.” He has also published more than 50 stories and poems in a wide variety of literary journals.