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Deadheading and Other Stories
Irrevocably tied to the Carolinas, these stories tell tales of the woebegone, their obsessions with decay, and the haunting ache of the region itself—the land of the dwindling pines, the isolation inherent in the mountains and foothills, and the loneliness of boomtowns. Predominantly working-class women challenge the status quo by rejecting any lingering expectations or romantic notions of Southern femininity. Small businesses are failing. Factories are closing. Money is tight. The threat of violence lingers for women and girls. Through their collective grief, heartache, and unsettling circumstances, many of these characters become feral and hell-bent on survival. Gilstrap’s prose teems with wildness and lyricism, showing the Southern gothic tradition of storytelling is alive and feverishly unwell in the twenty-first century.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
232 pages, Paperback
Published October 5, 2021
13 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
Beth Gilstrap
4 books16 followersBeth Gilstrap is the author of I Am Barbarella: Stories (2015) from Twelve Winters Press and No Man’s Wild Laura out now from Hyacinth Girl Press. She thinks she’s crazy lucky to work as Fiction Editor over at Little Fiction | Big Truths. Her work has been selected as Longform.org’s Fiction Pick of the Week, nominated for storySouth’s Million Writers Award, Best of the Net, and The Pushcart Prize. She has been awarded several residencies including a stint at Oregon State University’s Spring Creek Project for ideas, nature, and the written word. Her fiction and essays have appeared in Bull, WhiskeyPaper, The Minnesota Review, Literary Orphans, and Synaesthesia Magazine, among others. She lives in Charlotte with her husband and enough rescue pets to make life interesting (or flat out insane).
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 5, 2022
I discovered this writer and this book through the author Steph Post. I was immediately drawn to the cover, and when I saw the work was published by Red Hen Press, an independent publisher I’d discovered a year or so ago, I immediately ordered it.
The length of these stories range from a flash piece to those of several pages. Gilstrap doesn’t shy away from tough subjects, but she does it with empathy and lyricism. Her knowledge of people and the community they live in is wide-ranging.
Invested in the main character of the penultimate story, I was sad for it to end. In the last story I met up with Layla again—and what a conclusion! A few other recurring characters exist across a couple of other stories in Gilstrap’s world of realism. I was sucked into their voices and the pages flew by.
The length of these stories range from a flash piece to those of several pages. Gilstrap doesn’t shy away from tough subjects, but she does it with empathy and lyricism. Her knowledge of people and the community they live in is wide-ranging.
Invested in the main character of the penultimate story, I was sad for it to end. In the last story I met up with Layla again—and what a conclusion! A few other recurring characters exist across a couple of other stories in Gilstrap’s world of realism. I was sucked into their voices and the pages flew by.
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May 22, 2021I am thrilled to be working with Beth on this story collection! These stories are steeped in the south - from the fascinating characters to the luscious settings, from the brokenhearted to the afflicted, the women in these often macabre stories fight like hell to find their voices and survive the darkness inherent in the modern south.
Hit me up if you are interested in reviewing the collection for us, or in interviewing Beth!
Hit me up if you are interested in reviewing the collection for us, or in interviewing Beth!
October 9, 2021
4.5
I preferred getting lost in the details of the longer short stories. Broken characters, trauma, but every story still held hope. I had expected to take my time with this one but I devoured it in one sitting. My favorites were The Denial Weeks, No Matter How Fine, Gwen of all Gwens, and of course Deadheading, which was the last story and left me very emotional. I loved this raw, beautiful collection.
I preferred getting lost in the details of the longer short stories. Broken characters, trauma, but every story still held hope. I had expected to take my time with this one but I devoured it in one sitting. My favorites were The Denial Weeks, No Matter How Fine, Gwen of all Gwens, and of course Deadheading, which was the last story and left me very emotional. I loved this raw, beautiful collection.
October 30, 2021
“It’s when you are most desperate for connection that you shove it away, hard and fast, a bloody projectile hurtling into oblivion.”
I don’t know what I expected from this collection of short stories, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I truly enjoyed diving into the minds of these Southern characters.
Each story, while separate, may or may not have been connected to one another in various ways. The people, the settings, the sad stories, the strength… it all hit me right in the feels and gave me a sense of nostalgia, despite my growing up far from the Carolinas.
Beth has a brilliant, yet subtle way of inviting you into each little world, connecting you to the characters, and leaving you breathless as you flip the page to find you’re being introduced to someone new.
Because of this woman’s clever ways, I felt inspired to dip my toes into the short story scene, when the thought had never before crossed my mind. That right there is a sure sign of talent. Entertaining readers is one thing, but to inspire them is sheer greatness.
I don’t know what I expected from this collection of short stories, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I truly enjoyed diving into the minds of these Southern characters.
Each story, while separate, may or may not have been connected to one another in various ways. The people, the settings, the sad stories, the strength… it all hit me right in the feels and gave me a sense of nostalgia, despite my growing up far from the Carolinas.
Beth has a brilliant, yet subtle way of inviting you into each little world, connecting you to the characters, and leaving you breathless as you flip the page to find you’re being introduced to someone new.
Because of this woman’s clever ways, I felt inspired to dip my toes into the short story scene, when the thought had never before crossed my mind. That right there is a sure sign of talent. Entertaining readers is one thing, but to inspire them is sheer greatness.
October 17, 2021
I loved this book! Highly textured realism, gritty stories of working-class women in the South. Such attention to detail. The characters and settings are lively, the voices lyrical and full of longing. This book is the winner of the Red Hen Press Women's Prose Award.
October 31, 2022
We don’t read a story just to get to the end, but, of course, a strong ending leaves us satisfied in ways that are often unexplainable. What if a collection of short stories were to end with the sense of being a novel, as if all events pointed toward one unavoidable conflict? Such would be the craft of a gifted storyteller.
Beth Gilstrap has managed to stick the landing of "Deadheading", a collection of 22 somewhat-interwoven stories. The final two tales - drafted as if connected chapters - resemble the focal point of the more powerful novels you can name, carried across 35 tough and wrenching pages. Still, each story has its own dazzling ending, whether abrupt or subtle - the same way, ironically though perhaps not intentionally, a flower meets its demise when cropped by the process of deadheading.
Gilstrap brings to life her beloved Carolina in all its savvy sway by revealing the beauty and the underbelly of its unique people. Through both tragic actions and hopeful resolve, several characters weave in and out of these stories more like neighbors who are completely unaware that they are trapped within each others’ sordid and complicated lives.
The desperate owner of a second-hand store seems to recognize the pain of long-lost lovers whose bittersweet reunion-farewell tangles with the messiness of promise. Another battered couple in need of take-out during the holidays confronts recovery as a nearby prodigal daughter forces her way back into her mama’s house to subject a granddaughter to the very woman she had avoided. It is as if Gilstrap reminds us all that a life of consequences is often a lesson waiting to be discovered. These stories resonate tragedy as real, so relatable that nearly any family could claim the suffering as their own.
But plot is not the only device that sets Beth Gilstrap apart from some of her contemporaries. With a gift for language and description that beatifies the simplest sky or entangles the reader within a twisted early marriage, Gilstrap’s sentences will lure you into a dream like a soft summer sweat along the Atlantic coast.
If poignant and reality were to have a stepchild, they might have been born and bred in the south-eastern world experienced and brought to life by Beth Gilstrap. The stories are palpable and salty and marshy and sticky, but in the end they are beautiful odes to the human experience, with an ending as tough and as honest as any family’s darkest secrets.
Beth Gilstrap has managed to stick the landing of "Deadheading", a collection of 22 somewhat-interwoven stories. The final two tales - drafted as if connected chapters - resemble the focal point of the more powerful novels you can name, carried across 35 tough and wrenching pages. Still, each story has its own dazzling ending, whether abrupt or subtle - the same way, ironically though perhaps not intentionally, a flower meets its demise when cropped by the process of deadheading.
Gilstrap brings to life her beloved Carolina in all its savvy sway by revealing the beauty and the underbelly of its unique people. Through both tragic actions and hopeful resolve, several characters weave in and out of these stories more like neighbors who are completely unaware that they are trapped within each others’ sordid and complicated lives.
The desperate owner of a second-hand store seems to recognize the pain of long-lost lovers whose bittersweet reunion-farewell tangles with the messiness of promise. Another battered couple in need of take-out during the holidays confronts recovery as a nearby prodigal daughter forces her way back into her mama’s house to subject a granddaughter to the very woman she had avoided. It is as if Gilstrap reminds us all that a life of consequences is often a lesson waiting to be discovered. These stories resonate tragedy as real, so relatable that nearly any family could claim the suffering as their own.
But plot is not the only device that sets Beth Gilstrap apart from some of her contemporaries. With a gift for language and description that beatifies the simplest sky or entangles the reader within a twisted early marriage, Gilstrap’s sentences will lure you into a dream like a soft summer sweat along the Atlantic coast.
If poignant and reality were to have a stepchild, they might have been born and bred in the south-eastern world experienced and brought to life by Beth Gilstrap. The stories are palpable and salty and marshy and sticky, but in the end they are beautiful odes to the human experience, with an ending as tough and as honest as any family’s darkest secrets.
February 28, 2022
Beth Gilstrap’s world set in the Carolinas is completely different, yet feels exactly the same as my own surroundings while growing up in the Litchfield Hills. Although her short stories don’t have the same scenery, her characters, her emotions, as well as the truly hard times felt by people who end up with nothing but worry, were all felt by my own ‘clan’ long ago.
Told in a Southern gothic style, the author unleashes her obvious skill and grandness to write stories that seem as if you’re sitting in a Broadway seat, watching one of the greatest shows on earth performed before your very eyes. Each tale speaks of something different, of course, but each has that strong tie to the mountains and ‘boomtowns’ of the Carolinas that reek of isolation and almost has a haunting quality looming over each area. She talks about the working class, and how the female brigade, so to speak, fights against the norm. She explains how they work to set aside that old notion of Southern ‘misses’ wanting nothing but that beau who “sets them up” in a life of luxury so they can be the token trophy-wife. Gilstrap dives into the feminine uprising during a time when small business fall apart and larger companies sell out, when money is tight to the point where violence springs up and gives the women and girls something even greater to fight for – their very survival in a world that seems to be crumbling all around them.
The vein that readers will feel pulsing through these stories comes from the fact that these hard-working, sometimes grizzled folk are carved out of the stone and created from the very soil they work each and every day in these lonely places. They are bent on living in the niche they’ve made, and they even have that feral ‘tone’ about them when they fight to keep what they’ve earned, a strength that reminds me of a wild animal protecting its young.
This collection also uses the lush Southern language and is spot-on when describing and allowing the reader to feel those glimpses of light and hope that are real and do exist for these people. Completely “steeped” in the South, I have to say that one of my favorites, that will forever stick with me, was a short tale entitled, “Lake Hartwell, South Carolina.” Every word written in this small slice of heaven was so visual and so powerful that I saw my own grandparents before my eyes following Miss Gilstrap’s words as if they were actors in her screenplay. I have a feeling I won’t be the only reader who sees their own grandma wearing her frayed housecoat as the kids race in and beg for food that grandma has already cooked, knowing the little ones would arrive screaming after their morning of fun; or hearing their own grandpa almost beg for them to be quiet because it hurts his “nerves.” This story, as with the others in this book, was filled with lush scents, sights and sounds, and offered a feeling of comfort that had me believing Lake Hartwell was also a small town I personally named the “Hellmouth” back east. (The nickname wasn’t against my grandparents, by the way…it’s just another story.)
The author can’t hear me, but I am applauding the effort that went into these stories and the wealth of drama, family, emotions, and excitement she was able to put on paper. I would recommend that all out there read this one. I guarantee that everyone will have their own “favorite” tales by the time they bid the South goodbye!
Told in a Southern gothic style, the author unleashes her obvious skill and grandness to write stories that seem as if you’re sitting in a Broadway seat, watching one of the greatest shows on earth performed before your very eyes. Each tale speaks of something different, of course, but each has that strong tie to the mountains and ‘boomtowns’ of the Carolinas that reek of isolation and almost has a haunting quality looming over each area. She talks about the working class, and how the female brigade, so to speak, fights against the norm. She explains how they work to set aside that old notion of Southern ‘misses’ wanting nothing but that beau who “sets them up” in a life of luxury so they can be the token trophy-wife. Gilstrap dives into the feminine uprising during a time when small business fall apart and larger companies sell out, when money is tight to the point where violence springs up and gives the women and girls something even greater to fight for – their very survival in a world that seems to be crumbling all around them.
The vein that readers will feel pulsing through these stories comes from the fact that these hard-working, sometimes grizzled folk are carved out of the stone and created from the very soil they work each and every day in these lonely places. They are bent on living in the niche they’ve made, and they even have that feral ‘tone’ about them when they fight to keep what they’ve earned, a strength that reminds me of a wild animal protecting its young.
This collection also uses the lush Southern language and is spot-on when describing and allowing the reader to feel those glimpses of light and hope that are real and do exist for these people. Completely “steeped” in the South, I have to say that one of my favorites, that will forever stick with me, was a short tale entitled, “Lake Hartwell, South Carolina.” Every word written in this small slice of heaven was so visual and so powerful that I saw my own grandparents before my eyes following Miss Gilstrap’s words as if they were actors in her screenplay. I have a feeling I won’t be the only reader who sees their own grandma wearing her frayed housecoat as the kids race in and beg for food that grandma has already cooked, knowing the little ones would arrive screaming after their morning of fun; or hearing their own grandpa almost beg for them to be quiet because it hurts his “nerves.” This story, as with the others in this book, was filled with lush scents, sights and sounds, and offered a feeling of comfort that had me believing Lake Hartwell was also a small town I personally named the “Hellmouth” back east. (The nickname wasn’t against my grandparents, by the way…it’s just another story.)
The author can’t hear me, but I am applauding the effort that went into these stories and the wealth of drama, family, emotions, and excitement she was able to put on paper. I would recommend that all out there read this one. I guarantee that everyone will have their own “favorite” tales by the time they bid the South goodbye!
November 8, 2021
Lyrical. Transcendent. Otherworldly. A fever dream of a book.
Beth Gilstrap is a Carolina's version of Denis Johnson, of Raymond Carver. She writes with violence and tenderness, anger and melancholy, palpable anxiety and cocksure mastery. She has an ear for language that is uniquely of its place and time. Her dialogue is mesmerizing.
The way she handles fauna in “For a Blaze of Sight” reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver. She employs flora and gardening in her stories too. And food and cooking. Cars and music. Southern themes and delightful pop culture references throughout.
The stories in this book continue and overlap with the cycle Gilstrap started in her previous book, titled “I am Barbarella.” Her characters, Hardy and Janine, come back like old dear friends. I expect that we will learn more about Layla and Beau in the next one. I can’t even wait.
Gorgeous sentences that will stick to your ribs. Here are a few:
“God help buzz-cut Barbie.”
“From behind she looked like a shopping rhinoceros.”
“She liked to imagine the two lives as if the table had performed a great act of will to cloak itself in the pigment of its dreams.”
A must-read for lovers of short fiction, achingly poignant characters, and plain old great writing. Highly recommended for fans of Lauren Groff’s “Florida.”
Beth Gilstrap is a Carolina's version of Denis Johnson, of Raymond Carver. She writes with violence and tenderness, anger and melancholy, palpable anxiety and cocksure mastery. She has an ear for language that is uniquely of its place and time. Her dialogue is mesmerizing.
The way she handles fauna in “For a Blaze of Sight” reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver. She employs flora and gardening in her stories too. And food and cooking. Cars and music. Southern themes and delightful pop culture references throughout.
The stories in this book continue and overlap with the cycle Gilstrap started in her previous book, titled “I am Barbarella.” Her characters, Hardy and Janine, come back like old dear friends. I expect that we will learn more about Layla and Beau in the next one. I can’t even wait.
Gorgeous sentences that will stick to your ribs. Here are a few:
“God help buzz-cut Barbie.”
“From behind she looked like a shopping rhinoceros.”
“She liked to imagine the two lives as if the table had performed a great act of will to cloak itself in the pigment of its dreams.”
A must-read for lovers of short fiction, achingly poignant characters, and plain old great writing. Highly recommended for fans of Lauren Groff’s “Florida.”
November 1, 2021
A lot of grief, heartache, and trauma lies at the centre of these stories that are also filled with such unforgettable characters. I really enjoyed these stories!
Read my full review on my blog!
Read my full review on my blog!
April 25, 2022
reading this collection felt like looking up at a series of intense grief too zoomed in. it was exhausting in the best way
edit: re read parts several times, it stays on my mind. editing for full five stars because it truly has impacted me
edit: re read parts several times, it stays on my mind. editing for full five stars because it truly has impacted me
November 15, 2021
Beth Gilstrap's Deadheading is a nuanced, highly textured short story collection that showcases a mastery over narrative voice and left this reader feeling as if the unforgettable characters within were sitting across from me in my living room. Gilstrap not only captures the rawness and the grittiness of life in the Deep South, but she also succeeds in bringing readers directly into the subtle maelstroms of her characters' grief and trauma while leaving plenty of space for hope and redemption. There's absolutely no question why this lyrical collection was the recipient of the Red Hen Press Woman's Prose Award. This is definitely a must read collection.
July 22, 2021
A really wonderful collection that’s full of rich language and one that captures the power of memory and the past. This is a collection that’s of and from the South. There’s some brokenness in the characters, for sure, but there’s also hope and redemption, too. The characters and stories seem true to life in this way. “What Magic” is my favorite story here, but the last two (“Still Soft, Still Whole” and “Deadheading”) come close.
December 29, 2021
Deadheading & Other Stories is a collection of short stories, focused specifically on women in the American South. From the first story, "Earth Eating As Suppression," I was drawn in. The ending was so shocking, I knew I had to keep reading every story in this collection.
Some of them are quiet short, only a page or less, whereas others take up more space. Each one provides a glimpse at a life, the struggles, hardships, grief, and emotional labor, that each character experience. For some we get more context and background, others, just a quick snapshot. Regardless, it's easy to see the reality of each story, and how they all paint a picture of what real life is like for many.
I took my time reading this collection, and am glad that I did. I was able to sit with these stories instead of rushing through them, which allowed me to appreciate the writing, and the level of detail and emotion, so much more. All of them could be quickly read, but taking my time made the experience so much better.
If you're looking for a collection of short stories and vignettes packed full of raw emotion, I highly recommend this one. As with all collections, some were fine, but others will stay with me for a while.
Thank you so much to the publisher and Lori Hettler, the publicist, for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Some of them are quiet short, only a page or less, whereas others take up more space. Each one provides a glimpse at a life, the struggles, hardships, grief, and emotional labor, that each character experience. For some we get more context and background, others, just a quick snapshot. Regardless, it's easy to see the reality of each story, and how they all paint a picture of what real life is like for many.
I took my time reading this collection, and am glad that I did. I was able to sit with these stories instead of rushing through them, which allowed me to appreciate the writing, and the level of detail and emotion, so much more. All of them could be quickly read, but taking my time made the experience so much better.
If you're looking for a collection of short stories and vignettes packed full of raw emotion, I highly recommend this one. As with all collections, some were fine, but others will stay with me for a while.
Thank you so much to the publisher and Lori Hettler, the publicist, for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 7, 2022
What a strange and interesting little collection! I liked the mix of flash and longer stories and the sense of interconnectedness--some stories did feature the same characters and some did not (as far as I could tell) but there was a sense of gravity that held them all, that made them feel of the same world, same town. These stories look at the difficulties of family life--of finding and losing connection between children and parents, as well as neighbors and lovers and friends. The ebb and flow of life, the way trauma upturns and breaks these ties; the way somehow, sometimes, someway, people can heal those wounds...all of this in this slim collection.
September 11, 2022
One of the better books I've read this year, and no, it's not because of the obscure, familiar references to Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and Designing Women -- though I can't tell you how downright giddy I was to come across these in a book. It's not even an excellent book because of how brilliantly the author captures Charlotte, a place that's about 25 miles southwest of where I grew up. What makes Deadheading so special is its ability to pull you into worlds and characters in such a short amount of time and space. These stories are close to the bone and beautifully crafted. Beth Gilstrap is the real deal.
February 22, 2022
In this stunning collection, Beth Gilstrap's stories are narratives of survival and heritage at once. The Southern flavor of these appealed to our readers and the execution of the stories themselves is very strong, capable of transport. She's a writer we'll be watching and we very much enjoyed listening to her reading from this collection on the Booktails podcast feature and talking about her craft. Check it out here: https://www.hotredheadmedia.com/bookt...
March 31, 2022
“A dress with pockets is a reason to celebrate on its own.”
My wife has always complained about dresses not having pockets, or women’s pants not having pockets and that’s why I picked up on that line from the title story of this collection. It’s also about the lightest note in this collection, fantastically crafted stories about complicated, world-weary women working through life, love, death, bad decisions, bad husbands, bad boyfriends, bad girlfriends, absent parents set in the modern south. Gilstrap is a fantastic writer and I want more from her.
My wife has always complained about dresses not having pockets, or women’s pants not having pockets and that’s why I picked up on that line from the title story of this collection. It’s also about the lightest note in this collection, fantastically crafted stories about complicated, world-weary women working through life, love, death, bad decisions, bad husbands, bad boyfriends, bad girlfriends, absent parents set in the modern south. Gilstrap is a fantastic writer and I want more from her.
October 19, 2022
I may be slightly biased, because I know Beth personally. But these stories of working class characters in the South read like a well-tended garden, growing from the rocky soil despite everything. Some of the stories feature the same characters at different points in life. Some are brutal, some are poetic—some are both. The title story is a doozy. Beth’s characters will reach into your chest and squeeze your heart to make sure it’s still beating.
This review was originally published on my blog.
This review was originally published on my blog.
November 17, 2021
Deadheading by Beth Gilstrap is a remarkable collection of stories that feature rich characters that immediately pull you in and won’t let go. Each story is its own ecosystem and Gilstrap has masterfully crafted intricate worlds full of striking details, situations, relationships, and settings that left me wanting more, but were deeply satisfying at the same time. Beth Gilstrap’s astonishing grasp of the complexities of the human condition reveals itself in each line of Deadheading. I loved it!
November 15, 2021
A collection of short stories, some a mere page, some a little longer, all tied together by their setting in the Carolinas and all exploring the intricacies of life and womanhood. I was stunned by the depth and breadth of experience that the author has managed to weave into even the briefest of tales in this extraordinary collection.
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, and I have never read anything quite like it before. On the surface, some might argue that these tales are about nothing in particular. They aren’t identifiable crime stories, or romances, or horrors, but a collection of related and yet unrelated tableaux of ordinary yet extraordinary lives. Tinged with anger, passion, despair, melancholy, love, fear, joy and tragedy, they span the range of human emotion that can infuse even the simplest of everyday endeavours. The writer makes every life a miracle and quest for meaning, illustrated by even the smallest and most innocuous of happenings. Nobody in this world is nobody.
This is a great book to dip in and out of when you only have a few minutes to spare, or is equally a book that could transport you away for hours as you lose track of time. Each story is engrossing and moving, provoking a range of emotions in the reader that can take time to be fully realised. These are stories that you carry with you long after you have finished them and, I am sure, will be even richer on a second reading. Something out of the mainstream to relish.
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, and I have never read anything quite like it before. On the surface, some might argue that these tales are about nothing in particular. They aren’t identifiable crime stories, or romances, or horrors, but a collection of related and yet unrelated tableaux of ordinary yet extraordinary lives. Tinged with anger, passion, despair, melancholy, love, fear, joy and tragedy, they span the range of human emotion that can infuse even the simplest of everyday endeavours. The writer makes every life a miracle and quest for meaning, illustrated by even the smallest and most innocuous of happenings. Nobody in this world is nobody.
This is a great book to dip in and out of when you only have a few minutes to spare, or is equally a book that could transport you away for hours as you lose track of time. Each story is engrossing and moving, provoking a range of emotions in the reader that can take time to be fully realised. These are stories that you carry with you long after you have finished them and, I am sure, will be even richer on a second reading. Something out of the mainstream to relish.
June 11, 2022
I don’t have a “favorites” shelf on my bookcase, but this book might make me start one! I fell into these stories and they spit me back out in a stupor. You know when you go to the theater to watch a movie and come out not feeling like you? That’s how these stories made me feel, even the stories that lasted only a few pages.
November 25, 2021
This collection is so in my wheelhouse: lyrical language about complicated characters (mostly women) in often difficult situations. Bonus: southern. There are treasures on every page. I know I will return to this book again and again.
January 16, 2022
4.5 stars - This is a quick but far from light read. I will keep an eye out for anything Beth Gilstrap writes in the future. I’m grateful to my public library for not only having this book, but prominently displaying it with other must-reads.
April 23, 2022
The stories in this book were breathtaking, atmospheric, haunting, and devastating. Beth Gilstrap has a beautiful and delicate, yet powerful writing style. Each story was rich with imagery and characterization.
May 14, 2024
I loved reading this novel. It had incredible stories that I laughed, cried and impressed because they were so good to read.
Beth Gilstrap is a fantastic author that I enjoyed and I can’t wait to read more of her stories to come
Beth Gilstrap is a fantastic author that I enjoyed and I can’t wait to read more of her stories to come
June 27, 2025
A rich collection of Southern Gothic stories loaded with up-close details, strong voices, swift pacing and interesting plots. The stories seem to get better the more you read, ending with an engrossing finale, the title story.
February 16, 2022
Gritty and beautiful at the same time.
May 9, 2022
I didn't want this book to end. I loved it from the start, and every story was spoke to my soul on some level.
April 25, 2022
So much about the stories in Deadheading resonated with me; not just the vernacular and the reality of growing up in a dead and dying place, but the stagnancy so many of the narrators found themselves mired in. These were women and young girls (mostly) dealing with similar situations—falling in and out of love, self-acceptance or rejection, and so much grief for things that could have been. The writing had enough variety to it that these voices were distinct, although a few shorter pieces did overlap in my mind. And while Gilstrap's prose charmed me, some endings felt too expected of literary fiction and I had a hard time believing sections of dialogue. Pacing was another issue in some stories, with "Still Soft, Still Whole" being the one that comes to mind since it's next-to-last. I also questioned the placement of some stories (again, "Still Soft, Still Whole" directly preceding "Deadheading" when they're about the same character). But overall, this was one of the most enjoyable collections I've read since finishing my MA program. Favorites included "The Denial Weeks," "Bone Words," "Ain't Nothing But Fire," "Fly the Car to Mars," and "A Little Arrhythmic Blip."
Womanhood takes all kinds.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews