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Down From
On nice days the witch Sandrine, a wife and mother of two (or is it three?) canoes along the Stream of Consciousness to the outskirts of town where her friend Vienna lives on the edge of a swamp. At Hartwood portals litter the paths, big as dinner plates, but only if you have an eye for that sort of thing. Sometimes Vienna, who does, outlines them in circles of wildflowers or pastel chalk, to alert the unwary who might otherwise be whisked away. Instead, Vienna tells her, Sandrine should explore the disused upstairs bedrooms, haunted not by the ghosts of former inhabitants but by alternate worlds, one behind each of many brightly painted doors.
What kind of world is behind each door? How to pick? Behind Pomme Verte, the door she finally tries, Sandrine meets a tall young man with red hair, who may be a son she didn’t know she had. Is it possible that in the other worlds one has children who are searching for their biological mothers—just as if they had been adopted by a human and not, as it were, by another world? Only one way to find out.
What kind of world is behind each door? How to pick? Behind Pomme Verte, the door she finally tries, Sandrine meets a tall young man with red hair, who may be a son she didn’t know she had. Is it possible that in the other worlds one has children who are searching for their biological mothers—just as if they had been adopted by a human and not, as it were, by another world? Only one way to find out.
96 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2018
20 people want to read
About the author
Ursula Pflug
36 books47 followersBorn in Tunis to German parents, Ursula Pflug grew up in Toronto and attended the University of Toronto and The Ontario College of Art and Design. She travelled widely, living on her own in Hawai'i and in New York City as a teen in the late seventies. Formerly a graphic artist, Pflug began concentrating on her writing after moving to the rural Kawarthas to raise a family with the internationally known new media sculptor Doug Back.
Her first novel, the critically acclaimed magic realist/fantasy Green Music was published by Tesseract Books in 2002.
Her long awaited story collection After the Fires was published by Tightrope Books in 2008. ATF received advance praise from Matthew Cheney and Jeff VanderMeer and an Honourable Mention from the Sunburst Award jury. It was short-listed for the Aurora Award.
Her second novel, the YA/Adult crossover The Alphabet Stones (Blue Denim, 2013) received advance praise from Charles DeLint, Tim Wynne-Jones, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Candas Jane Dorsey, Jan Thornill and more. The Alphabet Stones was a finalist for the ReLit.
In 2014 a YA/Adult flash novel, Motion Sickness (illustrated by SK Dyment) appeared from Inanna, and was also a finalist for the ReLit Award. Motion Sickness received advance praise from Heather Spears.
In addition, a new story collection, Harvesting The Moon, was published by PS in Great Britain, with advance praise from Jeff VanderMeer and an introduction by Candas Jane Dorsey.
Also in 2014, Pflug`s first edited book, the fundraiser anthology They Have To Take You In, appeared from Hidden Brook Press. The beneficiary was The Dana Fund, administered by the CMHA, a no-overhead fund to benefit women and families in transition. THTTYI includes stories from Michelle Berry, Jan Thornhill, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and more.
2015 saw the publication of Playground of Lost Toys (Exile) co-edited with Colleen Anderson. Playground was shortlisted for the Aurora Award.
2017 and 2018 saw the publication of two novellas, Mountain and Down From (Snuggly). Mountain (Inanna) was a finalist for The Sunburst Award, and received advance praise from Heather Spears and Candas Jane Dorsey.
In 2020 her third story collection, Seeds, appeared from Inanna and received a starred PW review, as well as accolades at Black Gate and Strange Horizons.. 2021 saw the release of a new anthology, Food of My people, co-edited with Candas Jane Dorsey.
A writer of both genre and literary short fiction, Pflug has published over ninety stories in award winning publications in Canada, the United States and the UK, including Strange Horizons, Fantasy, Lightspeed, Now Magazine, The Nine Muses, Quarry, Tesseracts, Leviathan, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Nemonymous, Back Brain Recluse, Transversions, Bamboo Ridge, Bandersnatch, Postscripts, Herizons, Chizine and many others.
She has had several solo or co-authored plays produced by professional companies, and was a contributing editor at The Peterborough Review for three years. Pflug’s first published short story, “Memory Lapse at The Waterfront” has been reprinted in After The Fires. Pflug wrote the script and storyboard for the short film version, directed by Carol McBride. “Waterfont” toured festivals and was purchased by WTN.
Pflug has received numerous Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and Laidlaw Foundation grants in support of her novels, short fiction, criticism and plays. She has previously been a finalist for the KM Hunter Award, the Descant Novella Contest, the Three Day Novel Contest, the Aurora Award and others. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee.
Pflug mentors private clients in creative writing and has taught short fiction writing at Loyalist College, The Campbellford Resource Centre, and Trent University (with Derek Newman-Stille.)
For several years she was artistic director at Cat Sass Reading Series, in Norwood, Ontario, showcasing local, national, and international
Her first novel, the critically acclaimed magic realist/fantasy Green Music was published by Tesseract Books in 2002.
Her long awaited story collection After the Fires was published by Tightrope Books in 2008. ATF received advance praise from Matthew Cheney and Jeff VanderMeer and an Honourable Mention from the Sunburst Award jury. It was short-listed for the Aurora Award.
Her second novel, the YA/Adult crossover The Alphabet Stones (Blue Denim, 2013) received advance praise from Charles DeLint, Tim Wynne-Jones, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Candas Jane Dorsey, Jan Thornill and more. The Alphabet Stones was a finalist for the ReLit.
In 2014 a YA/Adult flash novel, Motion Sickness (illustrated by SK Dyment) appeared from Inanna, and was also a finalist for the ReLit Award. Motion Sickness received advance praise from Heather Spears.
In addition, a new story collection, Harvesting The Moon, was published by PS in Great Britain, with advance praise from Jeff VanderMeer and an introduction by Candas Jane Dorsey.
Also in 2014, Pflug`s first edited book, the fundraiser anthology They Have To Take You In, appeared from Hidden Brook Press. The beneficiary was The Dana Fund, administered by the CMHA, a no-overhead fund to benefit women and families in transition. THTTYI includes stories from Michelle Berry, Jan Thornhill, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and more.
2015 saw the publication of Playground of Lost Toys (Exile) co-edited with Colleen Anderson. Playground was shortlisted for the Aurora Award.
2017 and 2018 saw the publication of two novellas, Mountain and Down From (Snuggly). Mountain (Inanna) was a finalist for The Sunburst Award, and received advance praise from Heather Spears and Candas Jane Dorsey.
In 2020 her third story collection, Seeds, appeared from Inanna and received a starred PW review, as well as accolades at Black Gate and Strange Horizons.. 2021 saw the release of a new anthology, Food of My people, co-edited with Candas Jane Dorsey.
A writer of both genre and literary short fiction, Pflug has published over ninety stories in award winning publications in Canada, the United States and the UK, including Strange Horizons, Fantasy, Lightspeed, Now Magazine, The Nine Muses, Quarry, Tesseracts, Leviathan, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Nemonymous, Back Brain Recluse, Transversions, Bamboo Ridge, Bandersnatch, Postscripts, Herizons, Chizine and many others.
She has had several solo or co-authored plays produced by professional companies, and was a contributing editor at The Peterborough Review for three years. Pflug’s first published short story, “Memory Lapse at The Waterfront” has been reprinted in After The Fires. Pflug wrote the script and storyboard for the short film version, directed by Carol McBride. “Waterfont” toured festivals and was purchased by WTN.
Pflug has received numerous Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and Laidlaw Foundation grants in support of her novels, short fiction, criticism and plays. She has previously been a finalist for the KM Hunter Award, the Descant Novella Contest, the Three Day Novel Contest, the Aurora Award and others. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee.
Pflug mentors private clients in creative writing and has taught short fiction writing at Loyalist College, The Campbellford Resource Centre, and Trent University (with Derek Newman-Stille.)
For several years she was artistic director at Cat Sass Reading Series, in Norwood, Ontario, showcasing local, national, and international
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 12, 2018
A willowy glimpse into the domestic (and astral) lives of backwoods Canadian witches. Initially disorientating (though in a playful way), the whimsical depiction of the human element of magical interpenetration was fascinating, and I quite liked the main character's skewed mental tangents and oft-kilter observations. Sadly, like most interesting dreams, it's over all too soon.
November 7, 2018
An interesting novella about surreal dreams, parallel realities, a dream-traveller and a witch with a missing daughter. Initially a little disconcerting, the story soon comes together into a beautiful thing. Worth a look! Full review here: http://bit.ly/downfrom
June 17, 2019
In Ursula Pflug’s novel DOWN FROM, Sandrine returns from the fairy mountain, to decompress with Habib who fishes on the bridge in her town. Habib straddles her worlds; he is her bridge, saw her walking down the path, invisible to everyone else. He is empathetic to her dissembling dilemma, her inability to remember. Habib is friends with Sandrine and her mate, only Sandrine can’t remember her husband’s name.
Sandrine, sometimes Sardine, learns that her husband’s name is River; they have twin Sandys, a boy and a girl. Like Habib, River is telepathic and can read her thoughts. She has a vision of an adult son with red hair who’s at university in Montreal—but she would have been 16 when he was born; unlikely, but not impossible. Disturbed, she consults her friend Vienna, a professional witch, who is recovering from the loss of her disappeared daughter and estranged husband.
Vienna left the haunted house her family once lived in, one with many closed doors, each one painted a different colour. She now lives in a Styrofoam igloo by the swamp; she gathers garbage from the creek and crochets child catchers, to hang on trees, trying to bring her daughter back.
Vienna instructs Sandrine to enter the haunted house, to open the green door and go inside. In that dimension Sandrine sees her son Theo. And Vienna returns from the creek where a young man named Theo handed her a book to give to his mother.
DOWN FROM is hilarious; it follows her previous novel MOUNTAIN. Is she forming a reverse sentence from her titles? If she is, I can’t wait for the next one. -- Ruth Clarke
Ruth Clarke is the author of five books of non-fiction and several short stories. Her novel, WHAT GOES AROUND, will be published this fall by Inanna Publications
Sandrine, sometimes Sardine, learns that her husband’s name is River; they have twin Sandys, a boy and a girl. Like Habib, River is telepathic and can read her thoughts. She has a vision of an adult son with red hair who’s at university in Montreal—but she would have been 16 when he was born; unlikely, but not impossible. Disturbed, she consults her friend Vienna, a professional witch, who is recovering from the loss of her disappeared daughter and estranged husband.
Vienna left the haunted house her family once lived in, one with many closed doors, each one painted a different colour. She now lives in a Styrofoam igloo by the swamp; she gathers garbage from the creek and crochets child catchers, to hang on trees, trying to bring her daughter back.
Vienna instructs Sandrine to enter the haunted house, to open the green door and go inside. In that dimension Sandrine sees her son Theo. And Vienna returns from the creek where a young man named Theo handed her a book to give to his mother.
DOWN FROM is hilarious; it follows her previous novel MOUNTAIN. Is she forming a reverse sentence from her titles? If she is, I can’t wait for the next one. -- Ruth Clarke
Ruth Clarke is the author of five books of non-fiction and several short stories. Her novel, WHAT GOES AROUND, will be published this fall by Inanna Publications
November 23, 2018
From Djibril al-Ayad at The Future Fire: Down From is the shortish (a little over 20,000 words, I guess), dreamlike, fabulist fifth novel by Ursula Pflug, published by Snuggly Books, purveyors of bite-sized experimental and neo-decadent fiction. This is a classic unreliable narrator story, offering themes of uncertain memory, revelation, magic and reality, and featuring a viewpoint character who is uncertain about her own history, relationship with the thinly sketched secondary characters, and even which world she is in. The first half of the book unsettles with missing memories, shifting character names, stilted conversations—putting us firmly into the mindset of the discombobulated Sandrine. The second half changes both direction and pace, giving us a quite different story than we may have been expecting, albeit no less fabulist and semi-realist, and leaves as many new mysteries as we started with. After a slow start, this book rewards the faithful reader, especially if they love magic, uncertainty, fierce and unapologetic women, and stories within stories (and art within art). Read more here.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews