The Franklin Avenue Rookery for Wayward Babies and Other Stories

by Laura Newman

These ten stories are irresistible because their author is both fearless and ambitious. Newman switches points of view effortlessly, brings us to far-flung regions of the world, and has an uncanny, authentic grasp of cultures. We travel from Varanasi to Tijuana, from Rome to Lhasa, to New Orleans, Valdez, Barcelona and the Isle of Skye.  The characters are just as Maggie, who is taking the ghost of her dead brother and her guilt on a spiritual trek of redemption to the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal; Gomez, who has a date with destiny in the syrup aisle at the Tijuana hypermarket, while his friend Chuy carries Jesus on his back through the street vendors at the Mexican/US crossing; a Norwegian preacher relocates to Varanasi India in a valiant effort to convert Hindus and Muslims to Christianity, while his son watches the bodies burn on the banks of the Ganges; and in the title story, the women who run an undercover orphanage in New Orleans don habits by day, but play poker at night. While these fictions occur thousands of miles apart and evince wildly different cultures and situations, they are unified in their portrayal of ordinary citizens of the world struggling against extraordinary events. And they are written with a remarkable mixture of pathos and humor.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published January 19, 2021

Reviews

[Jena Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Franklin Avenue Rookery for Wayward Babies and other stories” is a rather long title, but the stories are short, and they will delight you. The title of the book- quirky, whimsical, fresh and original sounding- also gives you a taste of the creativity to come. Each story is a joy, a baby chick that you want to hold in your hands and care for. As the Amazon blurb says, “These ten stories are irresistible because their author is both fearless and ambitious.” I think Laura Newman is also happy, imaginative and fun with a big heart. I hope she had as much pleasure writing these stories as I did reading them.

Would you like to visit Nepal, Mexico, Alaska, Norway or Japan? There are more enticing places in these stories. Would you like to meet an old man with a cute dog, or a young Scots girl from the 1800’s who creates anthropomorphics? (She’s the one who ends up in Alaska!)

My favorite, the last story in the book, “The Color of Fisticuffs and Bloodlines” begins with an earthquake in Matsumoto, Japan. Like most of the characters in this book, you will love the family in this story as much your own. And the evocative words! Or as Amazon says, this story, and the others “are written with a remarkable mixture of pathos and humor.”

Here is a sample from the “The Color of Fisticuffs and Bloodlines”. (Yes, I know I am not supposed to cite direct quotes from a book that hasn’t been published yet, but this is my favorite from the book and probably my favorite quote of all.) “She learned that…water talks but is inane like a drunken aunt at a wedding, that bricks have a fascination with the rearrangement possibilities of earthquakes.”

I found it amazing how much I bonded with the characters, how much I cared about them. I also adored the creative and witty use of words. All in all, this is a charming book that will allow you to find an oasis of happiness, which we all need during these times. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Delphinium Books and Meryl Moss Media for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of short stories. I'm not a short story reader, but each of these stories are unique and creative. I was sad when I finished reading all of the stories!

[Vicki Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten little gems. I loved them all and found that I could not (didn’t want to) read all at one sitting. Each story needed to be mulled over, considered, absorbed, appreciated…the characters so vivid it would have felt disloyal to move on too quickly. I cried at the end of the last story, The Colour of Fisticuffs and Bloodlines, it came on suddenly…I wasn’t sure if it was due to the story’s sweet ending or the fact that I didn’t have another to look forward to. I look forward to reading more!

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Franklin Avenue Rookery for Wayward Babies is just one of the ten short stories in this book that Laura Newman gifts to readers everywhere. No two stories are alike, yet each will touch an emotion, creating a memory that I immediately wanted to share with my reading friends. So after reading the first story, I had to gift my friends their own copies so we could do a group read. Every one of the 6 of us would give this book 5 stars so that means it gets 30 stars!!!!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was signing up for a new novel when I entered this giveaway and was a bit disappointed....for about two pages. This book is excellent! The author can best be compared to Joyce Carol Oates for the common man. Cannot wait for another book of short stories and for these to be anthologized so I can teach them!

[Beth Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting, captivating collection of stories. Each one evokes memories of places and people and events in my own life across the globe and over the years because the writing is so clear & crisp. There is honesty here; you will smile, wonder and have your heart broken just a little bit. All that a story should do.

[Nadja Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't like short stories because I can't get invested in the characters in such short time. This one is different. I not only became attached to the characters but wanted to hear more even though the stories ended successfully. I picked it up for the title and stayed because the stories were great

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book a little weirdly formatted and disjointed - for example, the point of view switches from third to first person and back again in several of the stories. There's also a lot going on here in terms of plots, settings, and timelines that makes it feel like it lacks a cohesive theme. The stories were okay but none really stood out as memorable to me.

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is good at capturing places and points of view, and the stories are interesting slice of life vignettes.

That said, it was all a little too sincere for me so I quit after three stories.

Good for anyone looking to travel the world while having heartstrings tugged.

[Pamela Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like so many short story books there were some winners and some not so great. Overall I thought it was good. Many had tragedies but still pulled off a happy ending. I enjoyed this a lot.