The Lonely Stories

by Natalie Eve Garrett (Editor), Megan Giddings, Claire Dederer

A collection of essays about the joys and struggles of being alone by 22 literary writers including: Lev Grossman, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lena Dunham, Jesmyn Ward, Yiyun Li, and Anthony Doerr.

If you’re feeling lonely or if you’ve ever felt unseen, if you’re emboldened by solitude or secretly longing for it: Welcome to The Lonely Stories. This cathartic collection of personal essays illuminates what the experience of being alone is like for all of us. Some of these stories are heartbreaking, such as Jesmyn Ward’s reckoning with the loss of her husband, Imani Perry’s confrontation with chronic illness, and Dina Nayeri’s reflection on immigrating to a foreign country. Others are witty, such as Lev Grossman’s rueful tale of heading to the woods alone or Anthony Doerr’s struggles with internet addiction. Still others celebrate solitude and the kind of clarity it can bring about, such as Claire Dederer’s journey toward sobriety and Lidia Yuknavitch’s sensual look at women and desire. Thoughtful and ultimately affirming, The Lonely Stories explores emotions that so often go undiscussed, and lets us all know that we’re not alone.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Short Stories, Memoir, Contemporary, Self Help, Mental Health

252 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2022

About the author

Natalie Eve Garrett is an artist and a writer. She's the editor of THE LONELY STORIES, a cathartic collection of personal essays from 22 celebrated writers about the joys and struggles of being alone, out now from Catapult. She's also the editor of EAT JOY (Catapult, 2019), a collection of stories exploring how food can help us cope in dark times, and THE ARTISTS' AND WRITERS' COOKBOOK (pH Books, 2016), a collection of stories with recipes. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design, Natalie lives with her husband, two children, and their puppy, Zephyr, in a little town near DC, along the Potomac River.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I invited people, I typically would offer up various prompts. I definitely made it clear from the beginning that I was interested in [pieces] that explored the ways in which alone time can be maddening and isolating and painful, but also pieces that explored the ways in which alone time can be a thrill, or a joy, or something that you crave but can’t access, which I think a lot of people also experienced during the pandemic. There was this simultaneous excess of loneliness and then absence of solitude, which is something I contemplated a lot. I feel like one thing I learned from making the book—but after it had already been printed, of course—is that our longing for solitude is also another kind of loneliness. I think it relates to my experience of the pandemic, and probably a lot of people’s experience of the pandemic. There was so much loneliness, but also the loneliness of not having solitude. Like, I have kids at home, and solitude is something that I crave. It’s like loneliness from oneself. A lack of connection to yourself. - from the CityLit interview

------------------------------------

We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone. - Orson Welles

Welles was wrong. No one is born alone. We all emerge from mothers. Even so-called “test-tube” babies gestate in and emerge from a woman. Dying alone is a lot easier to manage, particularly when the passing occurs away from medical care. But, for most of us, even in the age of COVID, there are people likely to be in attendance, even if they are not necessarily the people one might have preferred. We are social creatures from birth. That said, I do take Welles’ point that we are isolated bits of consciousness trapped inside a meat sack.


Natalie Eve Garrett - image from her site

We are the only true witnesses to our lives, present for every moment, every experience, every feeling. Even our closest friend(s), lover(s), shrink(s) or interrogator(s) can only know a sliver of the totality of us. So what? Is this something we require? Does this mean that we are doomed to aloneness forever? The best we can do to share that self with others is to select subsets, parts of ourselves, immediate needs, likes, reactions, interests, artistic expressions, and feelings to share, to connect our solo consciousness with the greater humanity within which we live, to demand responses, connections back, human links. What if that desirable steady-state of exchange is disrupted, or never settles in at all, for reasons internal or external? CAN ANYONE OUT THERE HEAR ME?

But we do have ways of connecting. Communication, if we can muster that. Words, gestures touch, other non-verbal modalities. We are largely telepaths, communicating our consciousness to others through the magic of sight and sound. No station-to station hard wires required. And yet, even given this miracle within us, we can, and often do, experience (suffer from) loneliness. Is loneliness a failure of communication, a reaction to external stimuli (rejection), a mechanism, like pain, that tells us that something needs attending to, or something else entirely? Maybe being lonely is just a garden variety human feeling that we all have from time to time, but that some have in dangerous abundance, in a way like cell growth and replication, which is desirable, versus out-of-control cell growth, which is cancer.

In The Lonely Stories, editor Natalie Eve Garrett has called together twenty-two writers of note for their lonely stories, memoir items, not fiction. The quote at top tells us that she was interested in looking at a few things; alone time as burden, blessing, or out of reach, longing for solitude, and feeling isolated in our lives among others. We learn more in that CityLit interview:

Even though it’s called The Lonely Stories, I definitely wanted it to encompass facets and permutations of being alone, including joy in solitude, how solitude can be replenishing and healing. So it felt like maybe sometimes I nudged things more in one direction or another and it was really important to me that the book tease out the distinction between the two, because loneliness is being defined as a lack, whereas solitude is kind of the art of feeling at home with oneself. There’s a quote for me that a friend reminded me of, that loneliness is a poverty of self and solitude is a richness of self. I feel that really nicely addresses the paradox of how being alone can be both maddening and joyful.

The tales told here cover a range. All of these stories, none longer than eighteen pages, present complexity. No simple woe is me, I’m feeling bad, will be found here. Sure, there is a bit of surviving the breakup of relationships, licking wounds, but there are universal concerns, at the very least concerns that very many of us share.

Megan Giddings writes about self-empowerment, allowing herself to function, to survive when alone, whether in a hostile social world or a physically perilous situation. Several writers tell of feeling isolated, lonely and alone in relationships. Imani Perry writes of the singular loneliness of the hospital room, and of how many of those offering help do so out of social obligation, without substantive intent or understanding. Maggie Shipstead writes of the up and down sides to experiencing the beauty of nature while alone. ( The natural beauty I saw while walking my dog—the frozen ponds and snowy beaches, the tender pale sunsets over whitecapped ocean—sometimes felt irrelevant, even discouraging, without anyone else to stand there with me and say something like, Wow, so pretty) She and others write about the joys of being alone. Sometimes coping with loneliness requires some creativity. One writer tells of concocting imaginary helpers to beat back the night. COVID figures in some stories, one in a particularly dramatic way. Of course, one can choose to be alone and find that it is not quite what one had hoped for. Lev Grossman’s story of setting out to make his fortune as a writer was hilarious, and hit very close to home. ( I can’t overstate how little I knew about myself at twenty-two or how little I’d thought about what I was doing.) Of course choosing to be alone works out just fine for Helena Fitzgerald and Melissa Febos. A question is raised; Can succeeding at aloneness spoil you for togetherness?

There are stories that will make you weep, stories that will make you laugh out loud, stories that will make you think, and stories that will make you feel. There are stories that deal with racism, alcoholism, marriage, rejection by one’s only parent, the loss of one’s parents to age and/or dementia. Three writers tell of the experience of immigration, one of multiple immigrations, and how being the outsider can stoke the engines of loneliness to a high intensity.
One of the most powerful pieces here is Yiyun Li’s story of public and private language. (Loneliness is the inability to speak with another in one’s private language. ) Anthony Doerr goes from a consideration of his on-line addiction to a concern about whether he actually exists at all. We think of writing as a solitary undertaking, yet some of the stories here point to writing as a way to create connections with other people.

One take on dream interpretation is that every person, every character in a dream is some manifestation of yourself. The experience of reading The Lonely Stories was a bit like that for me. In so many of the tales I could see myself in the experience of the story-tellers. I imagine that will be the case for many of you as well.

An aspect of this book that was, and probably should not have been surprising, (given the quality of the writers. Really good writing often has this effect.) was that I felt prompted to recall personal memories of loneliness, and it took some effort to turn that spigot off after only a dozen. I could have easily made this review a platform for my lonely stories, which would have been a disservice. (What if I alternate one of mine with one of theirs? went my inner gremlins. Wisdom won out. You have been spared.) It is the sort of book that would serve well as a springboard for a writing class. Everyone has felt lonely, if not all the time, then in some particular moments or parts of our lives. How about you tell of a time when you were lonely? The tales here will prompt you to think about a time, or many times when experiences, when feelings you had might fit quite nicely into a collection like this.

One thing I wished for was more of a look at definitions, where loneliness ends and being alone begins, for example. Where is the line between solitude and isolation? Where does the need to communicate run into a need for privacy? A three-dimension spectrum of solitude (not to be confused with the Fortress of Solitude) might be an interesting way to visualize aloneness, with the X-axis reflecting the degree of solitude, measured, I guess, in interactions per day in person or via comms, the Y-Axis indicating how much personal choice is involved (probably not much for a prisoner, some, for most people, more for a single person of means) and the Z-axis reflecting how a person feels about their XY intersection, with end-points at going insane and I’m good. Add color if a fourth dimension is needed. But maybe that would be in a psychology book, and not a memoir collection, so fine, whatever. There was an opportunity missed here in the selection of writers. Loneliness is a particular factor with older people, yet the oldest (that I could determine from simple Google searching) contributor is 60. Not a single fully vested Social Security recipient in the bunch, at least as far as I could tell.

Bottom line is that, while the title of this book may suggest it could be a downer, The Lonely Stories is anything but. It not only connects on an emotional level, but offers a wide range of insight into the human condition. You will laugh and cry, and maybe feel prompted to consider loneliness, or lonely times in your own experience. One thing is for certain. However you react to this book, you will not be alone in that reaction.

It’s the worst loneliness, I think, the loneliness we feel among those we feel we should be most like. Our tribe turns out not to be quite our tribe.

Review posted – April 29, 2022

Publication date – April 19, 2022


I received an ARE of The Lonely Stories from Counterpoint in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks. I felt less alone while reading the book and writing about it.



This review has been, or soon will be, cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!

=============================EXTRA STUFF

Links to the author’s personal, FB, Instagram, and Twitter pages

Interviews
-----Catapult - Natalie Eve Garrett Wants Us to Feel Loneliness Without Shame by Tajja Isen
-----CityLit Project - Navigating Solitude with Kristen Radtke, Natalie Eve Garrett, & Nguyen Koi Nguyen

Songs/Music
-----Roy Orbison - Only the Lonely
-----Paul Anka - I’m Just a lonely Boy
-----B.J. Thomas - I’m So lonely I Could Die
-----Charlie Haden - Lonely Town
-----Bobby Vinton - Mr. Lonely
-----Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart
-----Gilbert o’Sullivan - Alone Again
-----Carousel (the film) – Rogers & Hammerstein – Claramae Turner - You’ll Never Walk Alone
-----Les Miserables – Lea Salonga (concert performance) - On My Own

Items of Interest
-----Garbo - ”I want to be alone”
-----Roots of Loneliness - Solitude Vs. Loneliness: How To Be Alone Without Feeling Lonely by Saprina Panday
-----The loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe – complete text
----- Frontiers in genetics - Long-Term Impact of Social Isolation and Molecular Underpinnings

[Soula Kosti · Rating 5 out of 5]

“As someone who has been an immigrant twice, I have spent most of my life feeling lonely. In fact, I still do. I often feel slightly out of step with everyone else around me, translating different versions of myself back and forth. This is a part of the price of being a foreigner. We are pulled by language, culture, the enormous mass of our invisible pasts that both weigh us down and give us our gravitas.”

It's always hard to rate collections because there are some stories I'll love and others that will leave me uninterested. In The Lonely Stories edited by Natalie Eve Garrett, I enjoyed almost each story on loneliness as they vary from narrations about the pandemic, FOMO, solo travel, racism, hospital stays, being a nonnative speaker in a foreign country, and even relationships.

My favorites include:

- To Speak is to Blunder but I Venture by Yiyun Li
- A Strange and Difficult Joy by Helena Fitzgerald
- The Body Secret by Aja Gabel

”the loneliness of grief was a hard burden to bear”

- The Perpetual Foreigner by Jean Kwok
- Letting Go by Maya Shanbhag Lang
- At the Horizon by Maggie Shipstead

”We are contained within our bodies and minds, and although we can use both to connect with other people, to feel close, that closeness is finite. Maybe the impossibility of perfect togetherness, of perfect understanding, is what makes the search for connection so enticing, the moments of resonance so profound.”

- Ward by Imani Perry
- Mother-Wit by Jeffery Renard Allen
- Alone Time by Lena Dunham

”If I were being didactic I would say that this, this pure and fiery solitude, is the time in which women form themselves-and that a patriarchal society has removed that privilege from us through the threat of eternal loneliness as a penance for the sin of loving yourself.”

- The Woman Who Walked Alone by Amy Shearn
- Notes from the Midpoint of a Celibate Year by Melissa Febos

"I forgot, for a spell, that my own company is more compelling than that of any stranger, and returning to this knowledge feels like a kind of love, like walking straight into the arms of a friend."

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't make the impact I was hoping for. The connection isn't there. The writing seems abrupt for most stories. Different authors, different stories but the writing all felt the same.


✔️Alone but not lonely but reading about lonely.

[Books with Brittany]

Loveee

[Laura Warrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One might imagine that a book about loneliness will explore the ways our increasingly isolated lives cause so much suffering, which is certainly a necessary exploration. What is unexpected and enormously compelling about this essay collection is how it demonstrates that loneliness isn’t always about the absence of people; it’s also about the distances we choose to put between ourselves and places, experiences, or even our true natures (or how those distances sometimes choose us).

The loneliness of keeping secrets, of hiding pain we feel we can’t share, of losing a native language – these are just some of the diverse takes these writers offer on the subject and it’s hard to choose a favorite. Another benefit is that through seeing loneliness in its many forms, lonely readers may feel less so.

Garrett’s collection offers the best of both worlds: phenomenal writing and a welcome adjustment to the way we see an aspect of life. I love this book.

[Alijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one is for the lonely bitches out there like me!

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so… To Speak is to Blunder but I Venture is a true masterpiece. And I also loved At the Horizon, Exodus 2020, Am I Still Here, The Body Secret, and Letting Go. Oh and also the Lena Dunham one which I’m pretty sure is about her break up w Jack Antonoff and which I did not want to like

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant concept to collect stories about all the varied configurations of loneliness and aloneness, written by literary geniuses, and market it during a global pandemic! Each of these stories is fabulous on its own, none of them are similar, and reading all of them together has given me a cohesive feeling of calm. Which is not what I was expecting at all. Cultural isolation I expected, and lonely hearts, but I'd never thought about gender differences in terms of being alone. I really appreciate the collective wisdom here that shows aspects of isolation not entirely negative, gives hope that the negative bits won't last forever, and virtually hugs you in a way that says hey, we're really not alone.

[Nuha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Catapult, Counterpoint, Softskull and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available April 19th.

Isolation is a term most of us are very familiar with these days. We are told to isolate from our jobs, our elderly, our children, our vulnerable, our schools and institutions. We are told to go into lockdown and quarentines. Yet what do these words really mean?

The Lonely Stories captures the quintessential emotion of our current era, the longing ache, the ugliness, and, in some cases, the relief. Through short stories by masterful Storytellers, the collection shows us that maybe there is beauty and art in being alone, just as there is beauty in finding a community of loners. I throughly enjoyed reading this collection and will remember the stories for a while.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading this in the peak of my solitude is both unnerving and liberating. some favs:
-introduction
-brief important moments where i was the only person on earth
-ward
-at the horizon (!!!!!)
-a strange and difficult joy (!!!)
-75 x 2
-the body secret (!!!)
-letting go (!!!)
-reliquary: a quartet
-notes from the midpoint of a celibate year

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

In a lovely collection of essays tackling loneliness, we see varying voices exploring grief, heartache, loss, racism, xenophobia, poverty, parenthood, chronic illness, etc.

While we still go about our day-to-day lives in a seemingly never ending pandemic, reading about the hope that comes out in the different understandings of loneliness featured in this collection helped put into words some things I'd been grappling with. Solitude and separation through multiple lenses and different writing styles helps make the term feel like it's expanding.

There were definitely a few essays that felt more fleshed out and put-together than others but overall, this was incredibly insightful.


CW: death, grief, miscarriage, terminally ill loved ones, references to slavery, mentions of police brutality, racism, xenophobia

[Royce · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, these stories reflect on what it means or feels like to be alone. Jessmyn Ward’s on Witness and Respair powerfully speaks to the grief she feels after the loss of her “beloved” to Covid in the early days of the pandemic. Yiyun Li’s To Speak Is to Blunder, but I Venture centers on her thoughts of giving up her native language of Chinese for English and what that means for her memories of her birth place. Dina Nayeri’s The Ugly Corner explores her search for happiness and her true purpose in life. These stories were my favorite ones from this collection. They provide comfort and solace for those times one feels alone.

[Imogen Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very honest account of loneliness in the modern age which made me feel very comforted given the tabooness that arises around the topic of loneliness. I particularly enjoyed Lena Dunham's essay about break ups and felt it really hit home and gave me some clarity on my own my break up.

Would definitely recommend for anyone as we all experience loneliness and this book explores it on many levels.

[Stroop · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of ruminations on what it means to feel lonely. It was a delight to read the different interpretations and perspectives on loneliness and how loneliness intersects with sadness, joy, grief, anxiety, self-discovery, relationships, etc. Reading this left me feeling content and contemplative.

The Lonely Stories features 22 stories, mostly original and a few previously published. My favorite original stories were “Javelinas” by Claire Dederer which chronicles the author’s relationship with herself and with alcohol; “At the Horizon” by Maggie Shipstead which is a lovely meditation on being alone; and “The Perpetual Foreigner” by Jean Kwok which details her experiences growing up and being an immigrant twice. Jesmyn Ward’s previously published “On Witness and Respair” is a moving story about the death of her husband. Anthony Doerr’s previously published “Am I Still Here?” is an amusing anecdote about loneliness and the pull of modern technology.

I recommend this collection to anyone in the mood for a meditative read and those who enjoy thinking about the complexities of loneliness, whether you are alone or not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Catapult for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Regina Mastrogiacomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the title is a good description about the stories, it doesn't describe how many way people look at being alone. It's not always a sad way but it is always a way to grow and to change ones life. Every one of the stories is a heartfelt place where the author was willing to go while writing their story. I like every one of the story because in each story the author takes you on a journey that makes you look at your own aloneness and how you feel about being alone. The stories will take you from a diving experience, a writer's dilemma, to how one decides when to change ones life and it will make you go, Huh at the end.
So, don't let the title stop you from enjoy this book, because you'll find that being alone is ok.

I want to thank Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press, Catapult and Netgalley for this intriguing book.

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these essays are really good and a few are sublime. It’s a great mix of different takes on the topic too.

[murmurelabaleine · Rating 3 out of 5]

some stories were beautiful and heartbreaking but some were… bland and emotionless i was a bit disappointed

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed! Not all essays spoke to me in the same way, but some really SHOUTED at me.

I really loved The Perpetual Immigrant by Jean Kwok, The Body Secret by Aja Gabel, To Speak Is To Blunder But I Venture by Yiyun Li, and Letting Go by Maya Shanbhag Lang ⭐️💫

[Noelia Alonso]

7/10

[mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lonely Stories is a compilation of 22 diverse views and stories regarding loneliness by well-known writers such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Maggie Shipstead, Lena Dunham, Yiyun Li, Anthony Doerr, and more. This collection of life reflections or essays highlights solitude, longing, and loneliness through the lens of different people who went through varied experiences in life, as well as the circumstances that led them to gain moments of clarity about said themes. Loneliness, as well as love, is a word that is quite difficult to define, for we experience it in numerous ways that may not be identical to other people's or even comprehended, hence the manifold of perspectives. Some days, loneliness is so easy to associate with solitude, but aloneness is not always a frightful thing; it can bring power, healing, and most importantly, clarity.

This collection uplifted my mental spirit so deeply, for it gave me assurance that some feelings are meant to be embraced and let flow until they become part of you.

I am filled with so many thoughts and personal reflections of my own about these things, which I decided would be just another writing series that could also include some excerpts from this book as I dissect and reflect through them.
____________________

𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: 4 stars ★

____________________

𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨/𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨: (just some)

“Our society tends to expect women to hold everything and everyone together, socially and emotionally; women who relish being alone are the witches, the misfits. So it felt right to make more room for women to examine and honor the shape of their aloneness.”

“As an introspective, creative, and also frequently sick kid, I found this vision both slightly unsettling and profoundly reassuring: no matter what happened, I’d always be there for myself.”

“Nevertheless, there was no magic cure. Sometimes the only way out is through.”

“And while loneliness can be devastating, I find it deeply moving that it can also function as a portal to beauty and discovery.”

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natalie Eve Garrett's collection The Lonely Stories brings together stories from diverse authors reflecting on the theme of loneliness. What I appreciated was the variety of feelings associated with loneliness and teasing apart the difference between loneliness and being alone and solitude, which does not have as much of a negative connotation to it. Stories highlight both the struggles of being lonely as well as the craving for solitude. Examples included living with chronic illness, what is was like to live in New York City when the coronavirus first hit the city, and being an immigrant in a foreign country (twice over). Some authors (Anthony Doerr, Yiyun Li, Jesmyn Ward, and Lidia Yuknavitch) I truly enjoy contributed to this collection. Li highlights the differences between grief and tragedy. Doerr writes about the push and pull of technology. Literature's portrayal of men versus women and the concept of aloneness was described, where men go on solitary quests, while there is no female equivalent. Recognizing that one is happy in a relationship but also missing being alone was resonant. These stories give the reader a lot to reflect on. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection.

Thanks to Catapult via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Welp. I thought I would get some interesting meditations on solitude and loneliness here, and mostly what I actually got was a sort of secret spilling, confessional booth for writers, which was not what I expected and as I learned while reading it, also not what I wanted.

Credit to the writers featured in this collection for their honesty and candidness. But I think most of what they are “confessing” here, while deeply meaningful to them, doesn’t necessarily play well for a general audience.

A lot of pandemic stuff here too, which is unsurprising, but not something of interest to me as a reader because, quite frankly, I just recently lived it and it sucked. Addiction stories too are of no interest to me, and there is a good bit of that sort of content here as well.

There are a few stories here that I did like and are worth your time, all of which felt more in line with what I thought this collection would be rather than what most of it turned out to be.

-At the Horizon, Maggie Shipstead
-Maine Man, Lev Grossman
-Alone Time, Lena Dunham
-Trading Stories, Jhumpa Lahiri

These four are absolutely worth a read, the rest you can pass on.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[junnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.5

"I know now that when we let go, we do not lose — for in the act of letting go, we find ourselves, and this reunion is joyous, exceeding what we once dared imagine"

Being alone and feeling lonely are things I've struggled a lot all my life, and I still do. It's something that often comes up on my therapy sessions and goes through my mind during random times of the day. Reading this book made me realize that there are more people who feel different types of loneliness as I do and it was comforting to read about it. I loved being able to read about each of the writer's experience. I'm just giving it 3.5 stars because sometimes the way the chapters were followed ended up being a bit repetitive, I think some more unique and different experiences could be included. Also, there were some I wished to read more of.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

These stories were so raw and honest explaining how each writer has experienced their own form of "loneliness". It really made me think about how I process being lonely and what that looks like to me and how do I feel during this time. With many of the stories, I could relate to their feelings. I very much appreciated a few of the stories that referenced they preferred being alone then going out. I have felt that and this helped to show that it is ok. Each person interprets feelings in different ways and loneliness may hit at different times and different ways. Whether it is a death of a loved one, traveling alone, a break up, etc. I wanted more of each story and would love to read more from these well written authors.

[Katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going into a collection of short stories, I was expecting I'd dislike some. The topics, mood, and style vary throughout the book, but the quality is there in every story.
A great read for contemplating on aloneness, loneliness and connection to oneself and others. Or it can be just an interesting series of life stories.

[Hailey Schlegel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this one up on a whim and so glad I did! Some of the essays felt more fleshed out than others but the ones that resonated with me really resonated with me. I appreciate all the different perspectives and experiences reflected in this collection.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

mmmmmmhmmmmm

[Burcu Doğruyol · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[◡̈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

#15

loneliness is seen and felt in different ways, it is absolute and ceaseless, where even from the most unlikely circumstances we are still able to experience it. even in the company of others, we nonetheless inevitably go through it. and what a refreshing and wonderful take to be able to read and know about it in multiple perspectives because of ‘Lonely stories’ by Natalie Garrett. there’s beauty and necessity in the presence of being alone, all to yourself. and sometimes it’s not selfish to seek for it, only necessary— i have been able to know this through this wonderful read of mine. 🤍

[Hadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A lonely cowboy poet. It didn’t sound so terrible to me. I wanted to be someone different, someone who had nothing. That sounded like freedom.”