A Heaven of Their Choosing

by Joann Smith

A widow plans her husband’s funeral feeling as much resentment towards him as grief. A mother believes her young son has the DNA of a long-dead ex-boyfriend. A woman becomes obsessed with a drifter who stands in the same spot every day in her neighborhood. A couple grieving a series of miscarriages set out to adopt in China, only to get pregnant again.

In thirteen stories that explore the complexities and messiness of faith, marriage, illness, and grief, Joann Smith’s A Heaven of Their Choosing is a wise debut collection for fans of Grace Paley or Alice Munro.

Genres: Fiction

150 pages, Paperback

Published September 22, 2021

Reviews

[Max Davine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that follow a similar formula and feature similar characters and themes - chiefly adopting Chinese children, couples who might not actually like each other, and thinking about god. Unfortunately stories addressing a crisis of faith are lost on those of us lucky enough to have long lost the struggle to keep theirs. We know how much better life is without worrying about judgement from a bunch of dead people's imaginary friend.

Only one of the stories offers anything of a climactic payout - the others simply fade out unresolved and uncertain, which tires after a short while. A Prayer at the Sandbar and Wall Man are exceptions. These are engaging and at times quite moving tales with endings one comes to expect of short stories and more among their vein might have been more rewarding and made richer reading of this collection. Several of the others were similar enough that one or the other might have been excised to make room.

Small Press is the vanguard of literature in today's publishing world. We can overlook some significant errors of editing if we're getting paid out with unsafe, original storytelling that Big Five publishers and the cookie-cutter rogues gallery of Twitter-obsessed literary agents out there wouldn't touch. This doesn't mean everything has to be risqué or hugely unique. There is room for cozy or gentle - see Barbara Kyle's The Deadly Trade for an example - it just has to be different to the generic offerings of the big publishers. This isn't quite there.

[C.L. Stambush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joann Smith’s collection of short stories mines human emotions through rich narrative voices. From “A Prayer at the Sandbar” through “Taking Notes”, the 13 life stories explore vein after vein of large and small life moments affecting so many lives. Smith’s poetic style in these sweet and sometimes bittersweet stories, allows readers to simultaneously experience and observe. Even though some scenarios were foreign to me, I still found myself relating to the human experience Smith so deftly explores in this slim volume of humanity.

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of 13 short stories. For the most part, the book made me sleepy. There are one or two decent ones, but the rest were rather boring.......

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories that make you think and wonder.