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Reflections & Echoes
My latest collection of short stories.
158 pages, Paperback
Published January 30, 2021
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About the author
Sandra M. Colbert
6 books2 followersSandra is a board member of the Chicago Writers Association. She's moderated several CWA events called CWA Presents, where she's had the opportunity to interview Chicago area writers, which have included Dominic Pacyga, Stuart Dybek and Scott Turow, to mention a few. She is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors. Sandra currently resides in Rockford, IL with her husband and their pets. Outside of her family life, she enjoys traveling and getting lost in her writing.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 27, 2021
Chicago native author Sandra Colbert’s latest collection of poignant short fiction features characters who make life-changing and life-challenging choices. Left behind and pushing forward are the answers and those who must come to terms with the effects of those decisions.
In nine pieces, Colbert explores forgiveness and confession, do-overs, and special people who run the good kind of interference. In “The Forgiving,” the opening story and longest, Marty is abandoned and left swimming in fury when her older protector and hero brother is murdered in an apparently senseless act. Colbert deftly weaves a series of points of view together as Marty learns that maybe the act wasn’t as senseless as it appeared, and the echoes of her brother’s heroism could ripple on if she chooses not to feed her fury. “Voyagers” portrays a well-adjusted young girl reaching out to an emigrant boy with a painful past. “The Letter” is the shortest tale, in which reading a letter became a solemn and cherished ritual over forty years. Other stories showcase a teenager’s devastating secret and painful, lonely life in “The Truth.” “A Confession – circa 1949” lightens the mood as we spy on a couple of friends whose paths went in opposite directions, but merge later in a cheery, messy manner. Via confessional and a little nudging toward the road of responsibility, one friend challenges another. In “Second Chances,” two best friends, Barb and Donna, confront Barb’s past and prove that sisterhood is the last unbreakable bond.
Grandparents and guardians are centric to several of the stories. Babka Mary plays an unforgettable role in “Voyagers.” Grammy steps in to love on Lucy in “November Gray.” A widow who is finally free from a zombie existence gets to experience everything she missed, including a surrogate child, in “Afterwards.” My favorite, “Afterwards” pairs two runaways with huge secrets. Always on the verge of discovery, Colbert brings two gutsy ladies together who vow to protect each other. The final story, “Here I Am,” plays on Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York,” and is a loving, parental tear-jerker as a father shoos his child from the nest. “I can make it another day,” is the father self-encouraging mantra.
And that’s Colbert’s message through her thoughtful stories: we can make it. The stories are well-told from all manner of perspectives from the 1940s to contemporary times as the reader is invited to jump into segments of people’s lives. We are asked to reflect on our challenges and consider how our choices echo long after the words and events evaporate. Highly recommended for those who love their fiction by the slice.
In nine pieces, Colbert explores forgiveness and confession, do-overs, and special people who run the good kind of interference. In “The Forgiving,” the opening story and longest, Marty is abandoned and left swimming in fury when her older protector and hero brother is murdered in an apparently senseless act. Colbert deftly weaves a series of points of view together as Marty learns that maybe the act wasn’t as senseless as it appeared, and the echoes of her brother’s heroism could ripple on if she chooses not to feed her fury. “Voyagers” portrays a well-adjusted young girl reaching out to an emigrant boy with a painful past. “The Letter” is the shortest tale, in which reading a letter became a solemn and cherished ritual over forty years. Other stories showcase a teenager’s devastating secret and painful, lonely life in “The Truth.” “A Confession – circa 1949” lightens the mood as we spy on a couple of friends whose paths went in opposite directions, but merge later in a cheery, messy manner. Via confessional and a little nudging toward the road of responsibility, one friend challenges another. In “Second Chances,” two best friends, Barb and Donna, confront Barb’s past and prove that sisterhood is the last unbreakable bond.
Grandparents and guardians are centric to several of the stories. Babka Mary plays an unforgettable role in “Voyagers.” Grammy steps in to love on Lucy in “November Gray.” A widow who is finally free from a zombie existence gets to experience everything she missed, including a surrogate child, in “Afterwards.” My favorite, “Afterwards” pairs two runaways with huge secrets. Always on the verge of discovery, Colbert brings two gutsy ladies together who vow to protect each other. The final story, “Here I Am,” plays on Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York,” and is a loving, parental tear-jerker as a father shoos his child from the nest. “I can make it another day,” is the father self-encouraging mantra.
And that’s Colbert’s message through her thoughtful stories: we can make it. The stories are well-told from all manner of perspectives from the 1940s to contemporary times as the reader is invited to jump into segments of people’s lives. We are asked to reflect on our challenges and consider how our choices echo long after the words and events evaporate. Highly recommended for those who love their fiction by the slice.
July 16, 2021
A wonderful collection of short stories. Some make you happy, some make you sad, some make you laugh, but they all make you think. I like short stories because you can finish a whole story in a few minutes of spare time and then read another one days or weeks later. However, with this book, I recommend you start reading it early in the day when you have no other plans. That's because once you start, you will find yourself wanting to read it cover to cover without stopping.
March 11, 2021
After reading Colbert's stories in "Chicago Bound" and "Chicago Bound2", I was drawn to another short story collection of Colbert's, "Reflections & Echoes". Beautifully written, the vivid collection has the power to draw the reader into the individual stories. This latest collection is a must read for anyone who enjoys and appreciates the art of short stories.
March 4, 2021
On a scale of 1 through 10, I must rate "Reflections and Echoes" by Sandra Colbert a 27
in appreciation for the twenty-seven varieties of human emotional experience.
ranging from admiration to surprise and twenty-five in between. Enjoy. No, savor !!
in appreciation for the twenty-seven varieties of human emotional experience.
ranging from admiration to surprise and twenty-five in between. Enjoy. No, savor !!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews