How We Disappear: Novella & Stories

by Tara Lynn Masih

A MILLIONS MOST ANTICIPATED FALL SELECTION

In How We Disappear, award-winning author Tara Lynn Masih offers listeners transporting and compelling stories of those taken, those missing, and those neither here nor gone--runaways, exiles, wanderers, ghosts, even the elusive Dame Agatha Christie. From the remote Siberian taiga to the harsh American frontier, from rural Long Island to postwar Belgium, Masih's characters are diverse in identity and circumstance, defying the burden of erasure by disappearing into or emerging from physical and emotional landscapes.

Described as "masterful"l and as "striking and resonant" (Publishers Weekly), Masih's fiction, crossing boundaries between historical and contemporary, sparks with awareness that nothing and no one is ever gone for good--and that the wilderness is never quite behind us.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

Audiobook

Published September 13, 2022

About the author

New historical novel, The Silent Women, forthcoming Sept. 9, 2026, from Storm Pub. Kindle available for preorder!

My Real Name Is Hanna, Tara's multi-award-winning debut novel for young readers and adults set in WW II Ukraine, was a finalist in the National Jewish Book Awards and received the Julia Ward Howe Award for Young Readers, a Florida Book Award (YA, Gold), a Skipping Stones Honor Award, a Foreword Book of the Year Award (Historical, Gold), and it appeared on Shelf Unbound's 2019 Notable List, Goodreads' 2018 Ultimate Fall YA Reading List, and their Best of the Month Sept. YA list. Hanna also released in Slovakia and Poland, and is forthcoming in Romania in 2026. Her latest story collection, How We Disappear, received a 2022 Florida Book Award (Bronze) for General Fiction, was a Book Marks "Best Reviewed Book," on THE MILLIONS "Most Anticipated" Fall List, nominated for a Clara Johnson Award, and a Readers' Favorite book.

AITL Media selected Tara for an Inspirational Woman in Literature Award. She is also editor of the acclaimed Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction and The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prizewinning Essays. She founded The Best Small Fictions series.

Tara has been widely anthologized, and her essays have been read on NPR and translated into dance (see under Videos).

Once a regular contributor to The Indian-American and Masala magazines, she's now a member of the Historical Novel Society and St. Augustine's Historical Society and serves on the editorial board of the place-based online journal Terrain.org and the advisory board for the Flash Fiction Institute. She lives in the wetlands of St. Augustine, Florida.

Online you can find her on Facebook @Tara.Masih.1 and Instagram and LinkedIn @TaraLynnMasih

Reviews

[Jaidee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.23 "evocative, eloquent, gauzy" stars !!!

The Book that I wish More of You would Read Award of 2022

Warm thanks to Press53 and the author for an advanced e-copy of this collection. I am providing my honest review. This will be released September 2022.

I absolutely fell in love with the author's (co-authored with James Claffrey) flash novelette The Bitter Kind: A Flash Novelette and it was in my top ten reads of 2020. So you can imagine how much I was looking forward to reading this collection. I did not even shortlist but went straight to the top of my reading pile.

I was trying to understand what it is that I love about Ms. Masih's work and I came up with this short list:

-she has an innate understanding of describing landscapes in a most beautifully precise and accurate fashion that put you right at the scene and heart of where characters are being and living their lives
-she is equally comfortable in American subcultures as well as more distant locales such as Puerto Rico, South America. rural Belgium or the northern frontiers of Russia (remarkable and intuitive)
-she is equally adept at creating complex characters of both genders (this is no small feat -let me tell you)
-I like that the reader is never put in a definite emotional state but that one flounders in a gauzy complex emotional cobweb which is a sharp contrast with the vividness of descriptions of the physical/natural worlds.

I will now list the stories , my ratings and a little impression, feeling or thought.

1. What You Can't See in the Picture ....4.5 stars... a very interesting story about a facial recognitionist, a missing girl and their shared bond of sisterhood.

2. Salt...4 stars...a haunting and poetic little interlude of a new love affair in Utah

3. Fleeing Gravity...5 stars...a little masterpiece of a mystical mixed race mountain man named Brandy (the male character in her novelette)...my heart was both so full and empty while reading this....favorite in bunch

4. How Do You Thank a River... 3.5 stars ...a beautifully written cowboy interlude... seemed quite unfinished to this reader

5. Delight....4 stars... a gorgeous but improbable romantic story of confectionary making, oppression and love in Puerto Rico... five star prose diminished by the inclusion of an idealized Harlequin hero

6. Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments... 5 stars... a wonderfully crafted and insightful tribute to Agatha Christie

7. Birdman... 5 stars ...an immensely poignant story of an American woman's pilgrimage to her father's grave in Belgium... made my heart ache deeply... second favorite in collection

8. Billy said this really happened to Lucy... 3.5 stars ...a talking snake and a grieving girl child in the deep South

9. In a sulfate mist... 4 stars ... a lovely little tale of new love and mayflies

10. Those who have Gone ... 4.5 stars ... a New York woman with first world angst decides to let go and immerse herself in Arizona ... wonderfully rich in both exterior and interior landscapes

11. If you had Stopped... 4 stars ... a haunting interlude of a dying earth and an impoverished woman's wishes

12. Notes to the World ... 4 stars ....a most fascinating view into the lives of 2 individuals in Russia's far north

13. An aura Surrounds the Night (Novella) ...4 stars .... losing family and finding your second sight

An amazing collection. Thank you Ms. Masih.

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Publication Day! (September 13, 2022)

4.5⭐️

How We Disappear by Tara Lynn Masih is a collection of twelve short stories and one novella with a common theme of disappearance. Often those who disappear do so of their own accord, some are taken from their dear ones and some choose to reinvent themselves shedding their old lives. The concept of disappearance takes on many forms in these stories which are diverse in content, context, setting and characters.

While we have a famous author whose eleven
day disappearance made headlines (“Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments”) we also have a missing child who is found thanks to the skillful observation skills of a woman who specializes in identifying perpetrators from camera footage, a “professional recognizer” in the police department ("What You Can't See in Pictures”). A loner finds companionship in a ghost town tourist attraction in the Depression era (“Fleeing Gravity”).In “Delight", a Puerto Rican shopkeeper find love and a sense of worth with a tourist in her beach town. In “Bird Man”, a daughter travels to Europe to visit the grave of her father who died in WWII. “How Do You Thank a River” follows a freed Black man’s thoughts as he crosses the Red River. “If You Had Stopped” revolves around a woman selling fish on the side of the highway, hoping that a customer would stop and purchase her wares before they disappear down the road. A deceased mother finds a unique medium to communicate with her grieving daughter. (“Billy Said This Really Happened to Lucy”). Women find their way into a new life in a new town in an attempt to start over (“Salt”, “In a Sulfate Mist”, “Those Who Have Gone”). In the Siberian Taiga, a hunter seeks shelter in an abandoned cabin only to discover a series of notes written by the previous owner (“Notes to The World”). The final novella, “An Aura Surrounds That Night”, revolves around a young girl whose life changes irrevocably after the disappearance of her younger sister at the local fair.

As in most short story collections, some of the stories were more appealing than the others. But as a collection, Tara Lynn Masih’s How We Disappear is impressive. My favorite stories were “Delight”, “Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments”, "Notes to The World” and “Bird Man” though I did enjoy the rest of them as well. Tara Lynn Masih’s prose is beautiful. Masterfully crafted and immersive, these stories are about more than disappearance- they are about life, love, loss and hope. I loved the author’s novel, My Real Name is Hanna and was eager to read more of her work and I must say that this collection does not disappoint!

Many thanks to Press 53 and the author for the digital review of this amazing collection of short stories. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on September 13, 2022.

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I recover from my second eye surgery in eight weeks (floaters begone!) I have been able to finish listening to this interesting audiobook. Wispy moments in time, each character is different and although we don't get to "know" them we do get to know how they feel. The stories take us places in some of these short stories and drop us in the middle of other places. Usually I listen to books while I walk but with this one, I was motionless, while the stories move around me. Just because people may be missing or have disappeared, that doesn't mean they are really gone. It was nice to have a variety of voices for the stories

My favorite story is Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments. Christie will always fascinate me and this story does justice to the mystery of this woman.

Story/Narrator
What You Can’t See in the Picture - Siiri Scott
Salt - Erica Sullivan
Fleeing Gravity - Shaun Corbett-Taylor
How Do You Think a River? - Thom Rivera
Delight - Kyla Garcia
Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments - Siiri Scott
Bird Man - Siiri Scott
Billy Said This Really Happened to Lucy - Kyla Garcia
In a Sulfate Mist - Siiri Scott
Those Who Have Gone - Erica Sullivan
If You Had Stopped - Kyla Garcia
Notes to THE WORLD - PJ Ochlan and Erica Sullivan
An Aura that Surrounds the Night - Siiri Scott

Thank you to the author for the audiobook version of this book.

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin to describe how lovely the writing is ? I could say its the kind of descriptions that had me rereading sentences, paragraphs just to experience them again. I could say how captivating the stories are, not connected in the sense of recurring characters or story line, but by something special that is woven through the collection. In her acknowledgments Tara Lynn Masih indicates that a common thread is “the theme of disappearance” and that of course is reflected in the title. For me though, the disappearances are associated with characters finding themselves, with finding peace or contentment, with letting go, with taking chances, with accepting love.

A few of my favorites:
“WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE IN THE PICTURE”, a gripping story of a missing little girl told through the perspective of a woman who works for the police department, whose job is to view tapes, and pictures and recognize people and things in them to identify possible perpetrators of crimes. I was on the edge of my chair hoping for a good outcome . What an emotional story that brought tears.
“SALT” is short and magical and beautiful. Enough said.
“DELIGHT” is sad at times, but is delightful with fabulous characters and wonderful descriptions of coconut confections that made me wish I had some . It was full of hope and I cried.
“BIRD MAN” was one of the most touching stories of a woman trying to come to terms years later with her father’s death during the war. It’s also about making connections through shared grief.

Beautiful story telling , and a beautiful rendering of hope in spite of loss and heartbreak. Highly recommended.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Press 53 through NetGalley .

[TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a stunning collection of short stories capturing loss, those who “disappear” in various ways, and hope for the future. In twelve short stories and a novella, Tara Lynn Masih has penned her most exquisite work yet.

My favorite story was Bird man, about a trip an American woman takes to visit her father’s grave in Belgium. The emotions here rocked me to my core.

I also fell in love with If You Had Stopped, where the world is falling apart and a woman is sharing her whole heart.

Salt was another favorite; it’s pure magic.

They are all favorites, though. I loved every single one, and I would read them all again. I’m sure each time I read them, I will garner a new discovery.

Highly recommended for fans of immersive, beautiful, lyrical storytelling. I have a short list of favorite short storytellers. Tara Lynn Masih is on that short list.

I received a gifted copy.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[jv poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only a true story-teller-at-heart can write so that the reader feels so very much, from such brief accounts. Ms. Masih’s How We Disappear contains a novella and stories. Topics not often featured together feel cohesive in this collection. Whether the subject was a missing girl with prosopagnosia (face blindness), the strength in siblings’ bond, or homemade confections, I was fascinated and absolutely invested. And, my favorite: I learned so many new things, but without feeling as if I’d been taught.

One tale may be divided into chapters, another by snippets of thoughts so quickly racing, they feel a bit abrupt and jagged. Each format perfectly suited the vibe of the particular short. I also enjoy this author’s way of showing rather than telling. When we get to join Delight in her kitchen, we appreciate the longevity of the recipes she follows because she can’t help but smile at notes such as “remove from fire”.

Characters are unique, with some quirks in common. Each person possesses something that sets them apart and not always what societal norm were term ‘in a good way’. It is so simple to focus on The One Thing I Hate About Me, that we run the risk of transferring our disdain to everyone we meet. This mistake is both self-limiting and unfair to other people.

It surprised me that my perspective changed as I read. At the end of the book, I still found the first short to be charmingly captivating, in a suspenseful and curious way; but I also felt as if there was an undercurrent that I hadn’t initially noticed. Now, I wonder: Do we disappear, or do we just get used up?

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tara Lynn Masih's new book of stories is a WINNER.

As in her triumphal WWII novel My Real Name is Hanna (which I loved) the book is about hidden people. Whether they are names you read in crime news or just folks you hear about from neighbours...

These unsung souls have fallen Between The Cracks.

Hence the title, How we Disappear.

It's not easy evading the Big Brothers of the World Wide Web. You become a statistic. Like me (well, long before the Internet, in 1969)...

I was an ambitious teen, and a sure pick for a professor's job at college, for my marks gave me Carte Blanche to a good grad school.

It was not to be.

I cracked beneath the pressure.

Put into the Royally Awful Hospital, diagnosed as bipolar, I could nevertheless count my blessings. I was still alive - but much more fallibly so now.

That's why Masih's first bestseller - Hanna - hit me where I live:

In my heart.

( I wear it on my sleeve!)

But in How We Disappear, Masih has disposed of her sentimentality to downshift into chilling psychological studies.

Much more in tune with the times we live in!

The collection opens with a bang: a crime-story novella that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. These are ordinary characters - you might know some of their types - who, with no notice and for no apparent reason:

Disappear.

Masih goes in-depth behind the news stories we read and behind the shuttered windows of our own neighbourhoods. She gives you the straight dope on them all.

About three years ago, I messaged Ms Masih to tell her that when I read, I BECOME the people I read about.

That's understandable, she said: "for you're a High Level Empath!"

Maybe it takes one to know one -

For the gripping stories of poor lost souls in this five-star book could have been written by none other!

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of compelling stories explores different themes of life: impossible becoming possible, one’s disappearance, letting go of someone, finding one’s answer. Along the way, offering an array of characters from different walks of life. With different circumstance, they offer different emotional experiences, loss and rediscovery.

With deft writing, vivid portrayal of place and character, the passionate storytelling is masterful.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written…some very quiet, haunting and atmospheric stories.
I savored one or two daily.

I loved Tara’s novel.. My Name Is Hanna.. and I loved this one just as much!

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tara Lynn Masih is an exquisite - writer ….. the type of author you want to tell everyone ….‘READ HER WORK’…..
Each word is chosen carefully…every detail richly imagined…..
……her stories, characters and prose can send shivers down your spine — and at times her sentences makes one want to read them out loud ….just to experience their sound.

ebooks and Audiobooks continue to grow in popularity with readers: for me too …..
but even the most die-hard ebook-preferred reader …..delights with a special physical book in their hand.

The physical book “How We Disappear” is gorgeous….which inspired me to create a pampering atmosphere reading ritual setting.
…..I always had a cup of lemon ginger tea to sip on -
…..I read in the same spot every day …(on a couch in our guest room that looks out into the garden and pool).
…..I snuggled with a soft beautiful blanket - handmade- a gift from a Goodreads friend.
And…..
…..With each story - I always read ‘something’ out loud.

These stories —that twist & whip….billow & ripple….and are lyrical & daring…..
were dedicated to Sandra Masih,
“my mom, who sparked my imagination when I was a child with her own wonderful, sometimes spur-of-the-moment, made up, magical stories to satisfy a bored little girl in the backseat of a car, or a stubborn little girl resisting bedtime and the essential but annoying act of disappearing into the world of sleep”.

Themes of disappearing run rampant in these stories…
….be it runaways, exiles, wanderers, ghosts, etc.
We meet characters who are unique-diverse in identity, locations, and struggles…..[but nobody is ever gone forever]…..

….. Tara explores the past, the present, and the in-between —offering a contemplative look at difficulties to be heard, to be understood, to belong …..to examine conversations that we might be anxious about or want to avoid.
These stories include danger, …..desires to be let free, and remedy to prove oneself innocent….make up for, and atone.
***with characters I will miss….

Reviewing only the first story …..otherwise this review might be pages long….
The protagonist of the first story — “What You Can’t See in the Picture” …
…our ‘star’ protagonist passed an array of many tests by the police department in her city — making her the only female ‘super recognizer’ among a bunch of other male colleagues, doing the same job.
“Out of the 500 faces in black-and-white that I was presented with no match, I got just one wrong”.
She was able to match up faces to one another- pick them out of lineups and mug shots and match them to their CCTV scans on her computer screen.

For Halloween one year, our star female SR (super recognize), wore a big smile on her face ….
along with a Superwoman T Shirt. (a little taunting tease)…
Let the other men she worked with, eat their humbled pie.
Point is -don’t mess with a qualified hard working diligent women….
Sing 🎤 along ….
“Anything you can do I can do better. I can do anything better than you”…,
“Yes, I can” 🎶
[thank you: Annie Get Your Gun]
Moving along….
During Super Recognizer training, everyone learned about face blindness or prosopagnosia.
Our - nameless SR superwoman protagonist was presented with a case of a young missing girl — her complete opposite nemesis… a young missing girl with face blindness…..(I’ll say no more)…
A terrific SUPER RECOGNIZER story!!!!
Highly imaginable with a bittersweet ending.

TERRIFIC stories…each and every one (from extra short to longer ones)…the brilliance is all there….
Atmosphere, tension, warmth, nature, ducks, birds, horses, dusty winds, & stormy clouds, family & prayers, hungry, challenged, humor, fearful & brave……
….harrowing, heartbreaking stories that speak to the human spirit.

Tara Lynn Masih is a tremendously BRIGHT FACE wonderful writer…..
Highly recommend…..a great choice gift book ….
…..a favorite bedside treasure!

Lemon-ginger tea, anyone?

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tara Masih employs a range of styles—from flash to novella, from ghost story to realism, from (American) myth to historical fiction—and a range of time periods and locales to tell her far-reaching yet intimate stories. It’s a difficult thing for a writer to leave no traces of herself in a story, to let the characters and places speak only for themselves, yet she’s achieved that in every one.

My custom when reading a collection is to read only one story a night. I was particularly glad for that with this volume, because after finishing each story, the amorphous companion I sense after putting down writing I feel close to appeared, occupying my subconscious, infiltrating my dreams. You know the kind, the one that’s still there when you wake up and you’re glad they haven’t left.

For the most part it’s not the plot details I felt connected to, though those are seamlessly done, but the prose: the kind of writing I’m reaching for; writing I’m ‘jealous’ of—isn’t that the ultimate compliment? It’s meant to be. In particular I’m thinking of the ‘quiet’ yet compelling “Those Who Have Gone.” The penultimate story, “Notes to THE WORLD,” and the last, “An Aura Surrounds That Night,” impacted me even more and are still with me, especially their endings: the former’s aching cry of loneliness and the latter’s lyricism, a way to move forward after tragedy.

Thank you to Press 53 for the ARC

*

Please see my review at Lit Pub.

(Added September 14, 2022)

*

Reread with Howard (June 7, 2024)

[Rosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A haunting collection of twelve stories and one novella set around the theme of disappearance, whether physical or metaphorical.

As the title indicates, the tales deal with “how we disappear”, but don’t feel repetitive in their theme. While one might involve a wartime pilot “disappearing”, another might involve a roadside fishmonger who “disappears” to passing vehicles without much thought. I am surprised at how the author thought of so many ways in which the tag ‘disappear” can apply to people.

The approach of most of the stories is either dark or melancholic. Barely a couple of stories are lighter in essence, though many are feel-good in their own way. I think the sombre feel of the collection made a difference to my experience. Though I did spread out this read over many days, the gloominess got to me. I might have enjoyed this better had I picked it up in a different mood.

What is undeniable is the writing talent of the author. Amazing prose, brilliant control over the story-telling, and praise-worthy rep of those from indigenous and/or minority backgrounds. Her storytelling is simply beautiful. None of the stories felt like they ended abruptly, though they might not have a traditional HEA.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Some of the stories hit the mark, while others left me feeling a tad confused over their point. Some were apt in their length while a few would have worked better if extended a bit. My favourites from this collection were:

👉 What You Can't See in the Picture – How a police “recogniser” uses her special skills to locate a missing child.

👉 Delight –How a sweet maker from Puerto Rico finds unexpected love despite disappearing in the background because of her partial disability. My favourite story from the book, probably because it was the only one with a better than feel-good end.

👉 In a Sulfate Mist – How a new couple discovers a bond in mayfly season.

👉 If You Had Stopped – Hardly a few paragraphs long but among the most impactful. Written in second person, it narrates the thoughts of a fishmonger as she watches the vehicles pass by on the highway without stopping to buy her wares.

3.35 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story. As I said, this might have been higher had I picked it up at some other time. Regardless of my lower rating, I would still suggest this as a worthwhile anthology for its intelligent writing and range of topics and characters. This is definitely an author I would love to read more of.

My thanks to Press 53 and NetGalley for the DRC of “How We Disappear”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.




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[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tara Lynn Masih has proven that she can write just about anything. She blew me away with My Real Name Is Hanna and I have been a fan ever since. Her writing is wonderfully beautiful, and I easily find myself transported to the locations in her books/novellas/stories.

How We Disappear is a collection of stories about those who are lost, those who are taken, those who have run away, those that are in-between, and those who wander. She even has Agatha Christie in the mix!

I enjoy books that evoke emotion and are thought provoking. This completely fit the bill. Were there ones that I enjoyed more than others? Yes, but isn't that the way with story collection? Plus, I enjoyed them all just some more than others. Tara Lynn Masih is a master storyteller and gifted writer. Her skills are on full display in this collection.

Lyrical, thought provoking and evoking emotion, this collection is not to be missed.

Thank you to Press 53 and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

#HowWeDisappearStories #NetGalley.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★
“It’s my job to bring ghosts back to life, to make them resurface and re-form out of amorphous images and subconscious memories.”

These are the words of a super recognizer who says all she needs to take to work is her eyes and a bag lunch. The police in the squad like to take their photos with her wearing a Superwoman shirt.

This is from ‘What You Can’t See in the Picture’, the first story from this collection.

I found it a fascinating insight into what it’s like to be able to pick out faces from blurry CCTV footage and from photos of enormous street protests. I liked this bit about observation.

“I’ve learned the eye can overlook things in forward motion because we can anticipate what’s coming next. When you reverse, you play a trick on your mind. It stumbles on itself, gives you time to see what’s right there under your nose. It’s in reverse that I see him.”

All those people who think they can disappear in a crowd should take note.

These stories aren’t a linked series. In fact, there are no two alike, and they are set all over the world. The author explains the title in her acknowledgments.

“I didn’t realize, until I started organizing this collection, that so many of my stories deal with the theme of disappearance. Then I came across a quote from Pamela Ball’s beautifully evocative novel Lava. Ball caught, with the snap of a finger, what I was trying to capture. That the state of disappearing, and where we disappear to, can be likened to a ‘country all its own.’”

She quotes Ball’s phrase as the epigraph:

“‘Whenever I asked about my father, my mother told me
. . . he’d just disappeared. Into thin air, she’d add, snapping her long fingers. Thin air. A country all its own.’
— Pamela C. Ball, Lava”

In ‘Salt’, a woman is headed west, intending a non-stop drive across Utah, but she decides to see the Salt Flats. She stops. She meets someone.

“How could I not stop for this? she asks me. She doesn’t even remember where she was going, or why, and I don’t remind her. Like those salt flats, her old life just evaporated.”

In ‘Fleeing Gravity’, Brandy is born to a Chippewa-Cree mother and a white trapper father on the night that a big wolf is finally killed. He is told he has part of the wolf’s spirit in him, giving him a three-part inheritance which we see affect him for the rest of his life.

‘How Do You Thank a River’ is what a man thinks about the Red River while on a cattle drive, taking longhorn cattle to the Dakotas.

‘Delight’ is one of my favourites. Delight makes and sells candy, a different confection every day which she makes from old family recipes. They seem delightful, if I may say. Her customers are the surfers.

“From everywhere in the world these men, and a few women, come to her beach town in Puerto Rico.
. . .
All looking for the perfect wave.”

A young American man begins to hang around and make conversation. She enjoys the unusual attention, but she is dedicated to her craft. Each day of the week begins with that day’s sweets.

“She needs no recipe to glance at, but somewhere in the kitchen is a small box with a yellowed card that says to remove the ‘manjar’from the fire. The sweet milk candy has been made by her family for so long, the directions refer to fire cooking. As Delight removes the pan and continues to stir till it softens, she hears her ‘abuelita’: ‘No matter how much you want to rush, Alegría, you must be patient. You rush, you risk losing the whole batch. And you will never be able to afford to start a new one. So keep life out of the ‘cocina’. The kitchen is a sanctuary. It should remain that way, my little Delight. And you will get through anything.’ ”

‘Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments’ imagines how and why Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared for some time.

‘Bird Man’ is the moving story of a woman who travels alone to find her father’s grave in Belgium, although her mother and brother aren’t interested. I loved it.

‘Billy Said This Really Happened to Lucy’ is about a girl who lives on a tidal marsh and hears her dead mother speaking through a deadly snake.

‘In a Sulfate Mist’ refers to the seasonal massing of mayflies the narrator witnesses in Mississippi while going to meet a man she’s met online. She doesn’t meet them in bars anymore, tired of men looking for the blondest hair and shortest skirts. “Can’t do short anymore.” She is intrigued by the unfamiliarity of it all.

‘Those Who Have Gone’ refers to the Hohokam, the ancient peoples who irrigated lands in Arizona and Mexico. Elizabeth has fled New York for a new life and meets a ‘cowboy’ in a bar, who shows her what a life here might mean, where the ancients disappeared, and nobody knows why.

“If You Had Stopped” is what a roadside fish-seller is thinking about a tourist who has driven past her stand where she sells ‘pargo’, red snapper, “fish caught by my husband at the mouth of the Parrita River you just rafted down. You see, his family got swallowed by the river too many times.” Costa Rica is more than a tourist destination.

“Notes to THE WORLD”. This is a long way from the heat of Costa Rica. “It was the hunter’s first season in the Siberian Taiga. And the hunted knew it.” He is desperate to get a sable, becomes stranded in a blizzard, and stumbles on a cabin. It is a rugged tale.

“An Aura Surrounds That Night: A Novella” is a favourite, along with “Delight”. It has the charm of the candy-maker’s story along with the rough realism of the hunting and subsistence living stories. Two sisters, extremely close, grow up on a chicken farm with very different attitudes towards life there.

“Next, they were to be trussed, the heads and insides removed, and the gizzards, hearts, livers, and necks put aside for gravy. Melody refused to do this. She said it was her job to take care of the wounded, mine to clean and prepare the dead.”

While they’re growing up, their mother often visits a woman called Yellow Rose, whom the girls refer to as the Sea Witch – she has powers.

“She came to the door dressed in a colorful hibiscus-print caftan, her neck and arms hung with shell jewelry, and her large mouth painted with Avon lipstick. I loved the brightness, the sound her necklaces and bracelets made, but most of all I loved the yellow hair that radiated away from her forehead, all in one length, into the ocean air as if the salty seawater were fanning it out.”

This is the kind of story that could have been stretched into a novel, but I loved it just the way it was, tragedy and all.

It’s a wonderful selection of stories about very different people and places. I don’t usually remark on every story in a collection, but I felt these needed comment (and a few quotes). I can see why this is a highly anticipated collection.

Thanks to Press 53 for the copy for review.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always awkward rating your own book, but of course I love it inside and out. Especially my characters, and I have to give them my love and support! :-)

I truly wish to thank all the wonderful folks who blurbed my book: Tina May Hall, Sara Lippmann, Michael Parker, Grant Faulkner, Claire Boyles, Stacy D. Flood, Ethel Rohan, and Phong Nguyen (full blurbs on my website). I hope you will check out their amazing books as well!

Forthcoming Sept. 13, 2022. It will be on NET Galley, likely in June.

[Ava Cairns · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title How We Disappear is quite fitting for this Novella and collection of short stories, for reading this book is nothing short of escapism.
What a captivating read!
If there is any quote in the book that embodies the book, it is this: "He has learned to value her silence. It means acceptance to him, pure and unadulterated acceptance of who he is. It leaves him with a solid core of peace inside." (pg. 25)
Silence , especially in a country like the US where the workings of society are largely fueled by individualism, is undervalued.
Perhaps it is because too many of us have been silenced by society, and as a result, being silent and being silenced are conflated.
Silence, to me, is a form of resistance. To save one's breath from speaking only when absolutely necessary is resistance. To detach from worldly interactions is resistance. To absolve everything except one's thoughts is resistance.
Resistance to what exactly? To many things. To caring what people think, to oppression, to fear, to social constructs.
And the stories and characters in this book evoke the power of silence, the power of losing oneself to their thoughts.
Character-to-character interaction is frequent in this book, yes, but the magic of Tara Lynn Masih's writing rests in the minds of the characters. Whether it is in the novella, where the story is propelled by the vivid and expressive thoughts of a child, or in the short story Delight, where love is expressed through, well, expression. The writer and economist Denise Chong once said, "love is expressed with your heart, not with your mouth." With such heart-centered stories, this quote rings true.
In Masih's acknowledgements, she writes that she "misses her characters." And it is understandable as to why she would miss them. She channeled the energy and persona of each character through her writing with such sharpness that the characters truly did come to life on the page.
If you are looking for a collection of short stories to read, or just want to lose yourself in a book again, I recommend this book.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to Press 53 for a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

Having read and loved Tara Lynn Masih’s novel My Real Name is Hanna (a piece of historical fiction that I highly recommend), when I saw this collection of short stories on NetGalley, I of course had to read it. How We Disappear is a set of twelve short stories and a novella which are all separate (in fact set in different places with different themes and characters), and yet share the theme of disappearance—each in a different way (of people, of connect, of love, etc). Most have a note of melancholy to them, but most also do leave us with a feeling of hope—sometimes of happiness and better times, at others, simply peace with what is. In fact, letting go or making peace with the past, either to make a fresh start or simply to carry on is a theme that more than one story touches on. Some even take us into dream-like, fantasy territory. The stories take us to various locations from Siberia to contemporary and historical America, Puerto Rico and Belgium. Beautifully written, both the very short and longer ones are impactful.

While I by and large liked all the stories in the volume, some stood out more than others. The opening story, ‘What You Can’t See in the Picture’ was one of these. This is about a woman with extraordinary facial recognition skills (a super recognizer) who works for the police department and is assigned the case of a missing teen who suffers facial blindness. This powerful story explores the emotional connect formed over fleeting moments between rescuer and rescued which will impact them very differently in their respective lives.

‘Delight’ is the story of a young woman who makes confections for a small shop in her beach town in Puerto Rico, but who has suffered loneliness and neglect in her life, partly because of a disfigurement. We follow her through one very special week in her life, as she makes new sweets each morning (the descriptions make one want to eat these), and meets someone who brings a new ray of light into her life. But is this the real thing?

I also very much liked ‘Agatha: A Life in Unauthorised Fragments’ which traces one of my favourite authors, Agatha Christie’s life through small episodes. Starting with the very disconcerting episode in her childhood when someone pinned a live butterfly to her hat, the effect of which only her mother was able to understand, to her love of music, becoming a VAD and learning about poisons, meeting, marriage and separation from Archie Christie to her love for archaeology and marriage with Max Mallowan, this story gives one a journey through the ups and down of Christie’s life, including the days she mysteriously disappeared. Many of these were familiar to me from her autobiography, but I really enjoyed reading this.

‘Bird Man’ was a beautiful and emotional tale of a bond formed between a woman who visits Belgium to find her pilot father’s grave and the woman in Belgium who she finds has been caring for it. While told from the daughter’s perspective, the story explores the thoughts and burdens both women are carrying.

‘In a Sulfate Mist’ is a story of new love, new bonds; a woman in search of love arrives to meet in real life someone she has ‘met’ online, right in the middle of mayfly season. Thinking through her own doubts and what she believes are signs, she must make up her mind, amid the added complications of the mayflies.

‘If You Had Stopped’ is a very short but heartbreaking story of a woman who sells fresh fish, and the adversities of her everyday life and circumstances which become part of her and her wares. How many such do we pass by each day, and how little we know what they are facing.

‘Notes to the World’ takes us to the Siberian Taiga where a bond of different sort forms between a sable hunter and a woman in whose cabin he takes shelter; only that the cabin itself is empty and he gets to ‘know’ her through some notes she has written and left for someone to find. This story sort of put me in the mind of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden at one level touching those same themes.

Finally, the novella ‘An Aura Surrounds the Night’ tells the story of two sisters Mercy and Melody, exploring the relationship the two share, family dynamics, and also the theme of loss and how memory (in fact happy memories) is all we have and really need to rely on to cope, to carry on.

All the stories in the volume feature characters one feels for, even empathizes with; emotions, bonds, connect are explored between the characters and the people and places they care for, but these are also what the reader feels and develops for them.

A wonderful collection, but one I’d recommend reading spread out perhaps because most of these do tend to go into heavier, emotional territory.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

How We Disappear from Tara Lynn Masih is a collection of stories and one novella joined loosely around the concept of disappearance in its various possibilities: physical loss or removal, emotional distancing, the effects of time on our place in our world, illness, so many states of body or mind that can disrupt life.

We experience some of these stories through the minds or eyes of those “disappeared” while in others, we feel the grief or longing of those left behind.

I have a some favorites, of course. My first (and the book’s), “What You Can’t See in the Picture”, is a story of what is termed a super recognizer, a person who can pick out one face in a crowd of others. It’s a story on purpose, identity, true sight, insight, the meaning of vision and wisdom with some irony thrown in for good measure as a woman works in this role with the police. Another is “Fleeing Gravity”, the story of a man from nowhere, with nothing who finds a place to disappear. In “Delight “, I found affirmation. Loved this story of Delight who has felt “disappeared” her entire life. “Agatha: a Life in Unauthorized Fragments” is an unexpected look into Agatha Christie’s life. “Notes to The World” is a long story of two young people out of their element, with no good place in the world, a diary linking them in Siberian cold. Lastly is the novella “An Aura Surrounds that Night”, the story of a farm family.

As I finish my review I realize there are more stories I could include, but then I would be listing the contents of the book. My purpose is to highlight and there are many, many highlights here to savor.

I received a copy of this book from Press 53 through NetGalley.

[Srivalli (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publication Date: 13th Sep 2022

4.3 Stars

One Liner: Brooding and darkish; introspective without being too heavy.

How We Disappear is an anthology of short stories and a novella on the theme of disappearance. It encompasses stories from different regions, communities, and social structures. The writing is evocative without being dramatic. In fact, it seems matter of fact and yet delivers emotions with full force.

The tone, POV, and narration change from one story to another. Some are in the first person, while some are in the third person. Each story is distinct, though not all make the same impact.

While the overall theme of disappearances creates a sense of vagueness and haziness, some stories are a little too vague to understand. This is my first book by the author, and I’m totally impressed by her writing style.

What You Can't See in the Picture: A story about a facial recognitionist and a missing girl with face blindness. A solid start to the book. Introspective police procedural with human emotions and bonding as an underlying theme.

Salt: Too short a story about a woman who chooses to disappear with a lover.

Fleeting Gravity: Story of Brandy, a mixed-race Cree. A melancholic tale about life, loss, acceptance, loneliness, and society. It is sad and peaceful at the same time.

How Do You Thank a River: A story about a cowboy’s life and the famous Red river in the region. The ending is left open for interpretation.

Delight: The story of a confectionary maker and a man who claims to be different from others. The hopeful ending might be a bit cliché to some, but it was perfect for me. We need a small ray of hope to keep living.

Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments: My absolute favorite! It is Agatha Christie’s life story told in fragments- just like her mystery books. I love it.

Birdman: The story of an American woman’s journey to Belgium to find her father’s grave. It starts slow and reveals the layers in the plot through the woman’s thoughts and actions. A heartwarming story.

Billy said this really Happened to Lucy: A little girl grieving the death of her mother and a mysterious snake that talks to her. A message about grief, mourning, and letting go.

In a Sulfate Mist: Finding new love, mayflies, doubts, acceptance, and taking chances. Short yet impactful.

Those who have Gone: A story about a New York woman who arrives in Arizona looking for a fresh start yet clinging to the past. A vivid story about life, relationships, and trusting oneself to make the right decisions.

If You had Stopped: A fragment of a community’s life in the second person POV. The woman says it all without saying much. Deep, sad, and defeated acceptance.

Notes to the World: A story about two different people who don’t meet but have a common point. Set in Russian winter, it is the story of resilience and determination.

An Aura Surrounds the Night (novella): A bittersweet story of Mercy and Melody. It comes from Mercy’s POV, revealing her family dynamics and her life over the years. The story was a bit confusing as she refers to her parents as mother and father and by their names. It’s not entirely linear. From what I understood, the story takes a sort of U-turn to have an introspective ending.

To sum up, How We Disappear: Novella & Stories is a collection of darkish, brooding, and melancholic stories with a few hopeful ones added to the mix. I’d love to revisit some of the stories one day in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley and Press 53, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#HowWeDisappearStories #NetGalley

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Right to Disappear


I can think of manny ways to disappear:
A beautiful sunset, a walk by the sea, falling in love, etc, etc…

I disappear when I’m overwhelmed and need a break…
I disappear when I feel the urge to be desperately me…

Reading some of those stories made me think about how important it is to be in touch with ourselves… made me think about the right to disappear…

There’s beauty and poetry in Tara Lynn’s prose. Reading her book was a wonderful way to disappear…

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunningly Beautiful. These Touch Your Soul
Excellent~Loved This Collection of Short Stories. Beautiful Written. The Thread that connects each I believe is hope. We Disappear or Try to for a Reason. Our old life changed or we needed to find a new place to be, or we just couldn’t be ourselves where we came from. There were 13 different stories. I found the stories even more relatable since I have gone to almost all of these towns in the West. I lived on Long Island.

In the story Salt, a women is leaving, planning on going to the Rockies and to meet a boyfriend. She is really not going somewhere, just needs a place. Then in Utah she meets a man and his farm is magical. His cows produce milk that turns to silk. The horses hooves turn to Cooper. Snakes venom cures cancer. She tells her friend, she just had to stop here. Here she is home. Life has meaning and is special. Her old life has gone away and that opens her up to love and joy.

In Delight, this girl in Mexico wakes up each day and makes candy as her Aunt as taught her to. She did this so Delight could survive. You see, Delight was born with a tilted head. Her father is cruel and diminishes her. When a nice man Marcus starts to take an interest in Delight her father does everything he can to stop her from seeing him. Yet, he does not see her as deformed or ugly. Her head is just at a different angle and that should not stop him from loving her. Finally, she knows who her father is and choses life and being happy and leaves with Marcus. I really enjoyed this story. Shows someone with a slight difference is still a full person with love in their heart and able to find others that see that.

In Those Who Have Gone, Elizabeth thinks maybe she will leave NYC and go to Phoenix, AZ. She meets a guy named Blaze who warns her that her dream of the Wild West is really upgraded for those with money and the fantasy of cowboys and Indians and roaming the range really isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. He takes her to a real Indian Reservation. He is right, it is not what Elizabeth expects. It is decrepit, poor, and has toxic chemicals. This part has not been cleaned up for the tourists. Yet, something calls Elizabeth. She does not leave and just walks behind Blaze. Perhaps, she can find a new place to call home since her heart tells her to.

The last was a Novella. An Aura Surrounds That Night. I loved this story. It is set in the 1960’s on Long Island. They are eating sweet corn. There are two sisters and they play on the beach. The theme of playing on the beach, collecting creatures, the smell of the Ocean, the beauty of Long Island when it was undisturbed is there. Yet, Melody is on her carousel and when it turns she can’t be found. Her sister is missing and then assumed dead. Mercy disappears inside without Melody. Yellow Rose is wise, tells Mercy she needs to find the balance to not let go and also to stay. Mercy decides she will learn to swim and be in the Ocean. Yellow Rose knows more, that Mercy has the same gift as her. She can see the visions and knows when something will happen. Yet, in her bones the sites, smells, humidity of living on a farm on Long Island was where she belonged. She learned to stay and hold onto her memories of her sister. This was and is her life. I loved this story. All the memories of Long Island that I, too grew up as a child. I was there for almost 50 years, so I could feel the pull of home in this story.

The author writes with such a poetic and moving way. She has a light touch, but feels that pull to need to go. She extracts each persons essence and humanity and knows where each needs to end up. I will read each of these stories again, and each will effect me differently. There is much depth here and it is worth feeling. It will help me touch that sweet spot of my own humanity. It will help perhaps remind me of the young girl who played with shells and baby crabs, not noticing the time drifting by. I hope for home again, yet I had to leave. That does not mean you know where to stop and rest your tired soul. That is a special gift that is being imparted and I can emphasize with the needs on these characters. I understand this feeling and you need visions, hope, and a life force to sustain you so you stay grounded on this earth. Just a stunning book.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a common theme of ‘disappearance’, How We Disappear is an anthology of twelve short stories and one novella, written in an enigmatic, stirring style that could either be unsettling or liberating to the reader, depending upon the lives they have had. For me, it was a mix of both!

Tara Lynn Masih interprets disappearance uniquely in each of the stories; some disappearances are physical in nature, referring to the death of a character, or their absence, whereas others are metaphorically interpreted - characters on a journey to lose their past lives and rediscover themselves. Each interpretation is distinct and thoughtfully written. Masih’s prose is poetic and has a transcendental quality to it. Her characters and stories, although disjointed, flow with musical ease, forming a bond between them.

Some of these characters and stories remain etched in my mind, and I look forward to revisiting them another time while some are already fogging up, especially the ones that were too small, barely a page or two. These mini stories lacked character development and didn’t draw me as much as the others. I also had trouble getting into some of the stories; the story structure was a little unusual without a clear-cut beginning, no character introduction, and no backstories. The reader is simply thrown amid the POV characters’ lives and then has to figure out what’s happening. This chaos was, however, short-lived, and I was sucked into their enchanting worlds. Tip: give it a little time to grow on you. I am definitely keeping Masih on my radar and will check out more of her works in the future.

Thanks to Press53 and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
How We Disappear is now available for purchase.

3.75/5🌟(rounding up).

TW: Disappearance, death, divorce, poverty, depression, and grief.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of beautifully written short stories plus a novella. They are character-driven with themes of various forms of disappearances and life-altering experiences. Unlike some short stories I have read, these have a beginning, middle, and an end. Each one feels like a complete thought.

My favorites are “Delight” (about a momentous week in the life of a candy shop worker) and “Bird Man” (a woman searches for her father’s grave far from home). I also greatly enjoyed “Those Who Have Gone” (a woman travels to Arizona to find a new path) and “Notes to the World” (a Russian man finds a batch of diary entries in a deserted cabin after almost dying of hypothermia).

I had previously read and loved Masih’s novel My Real Name is Hanna. I highly recommend both works. She is a wonderful writer. I have added her to my list of favorite authors and plan to read whatever she writes in the future.

I received an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of twelve short stories, and one novella, that share the lives of several characters whose lives are lived in various timeframes and places, people who have been ‘marked by loss’ in various ways, physically and emotionally. Each of these stories are worth reading, some are brief, but each story is worth your time.

This collection of twelve stories and a novella are set in different places, different times, and explore different themes, and I loved that they were each so unique despite sharing the theme of disappearance. The writing was lovely, and her ability to craft these stories as independent and different from another, with the revolving theme of disappearing, the presence of those absent, and the absence of those present.

A simply lovely read.

[Joseph Sciuto · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was late spring 1982 and I was attending one of my final classes before graduating from lovely Stony Brook University. The class, “The Modern Novel,” was taught by Professor Louis Simpson (Pulitzer Prize winning poet and World War 2 hero).

Toward the end of the class, a student asked the question, “Professor Simpson, do you think the novel is the best form of writing to express your ideas and opinions? After all, it gives you the longest latitude to get across your message."

The Professor studied the student for a long quizzical moment and then simply shook his head and replied, “And what makes you believe that length matters in how good or poor a piece of writing is? If you remember the novels we studied in this class, “Heart of Darkness, The Sun Also Rises, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” they are all considered relatively short novels and yet hold the distinguished honor of being considered three of the greatest novels ever written.

“Length has nothing to do with the quality of writing, the expressing of ideas or opinions, or the effect it has on the reader. I have spent more time analyzing Hemingway’s short story, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" than I have spent on Tolstoy’s 800 page novel, "Anna Karenina."

“I have spend a lifetime analyzing T.S. Elliot’s poem, "The Wasteland" while I don’t think I have spend 5 minutes thinking about Hemingway’s 450 page novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," which reads more like a screenplay written for Hollywood than any great piece of writing.

“In the case of writing, size really doesn’t matter. It’s quality that matters.”

I fully agree with Professor Simpson and I imagine most writers, teachers, and professors of literature would agree. I personally love all forms of writings, including letters, novellas, critical essays, etc. The most important quality I look for in all writing is HONESTY, and in Tara Lynn Masih’s, “How We Disappear (a novella and a collection of short stories)” I found honesty running through the entire collection like blood through the body.

In fact, in the final piece, a novella titled “An Aura Surrounds That Night,” I felt the writing to be so honest and powerful that I went back and read it a second time I was so convinced it had be biographical.

The title of the collection can be somewhat deceiving (even though I love the title). One can disappear in many ways and in all the stories that is exactly what happens creating a collection so varied and a collection with so many great characters and storylines that it is impossible not to be highly, highly impressed with the writing.

Ms. Masih chooses many different locations, including the Dakotas, Puerto Rico, France, England, Arizona, The Netherlands, Canada, Mississippi, and Long Island. Her writing is descriptive and you get a real feel for all the locations that are very much well developed characters in the stories.

I liked all the stories and if I had to pick my very favorites they would be "Delight, Agatha, Bird Man, If You Had Stopped, and the novella, An Aura Surrounds That Night.” One is about a deformity that a lady has to cope with, one about a famous author, one about the body of a dead pilot shot down and killed over the Netherlands, one about a makeshift fruit stand on a highway, and the novella about a family farm on Long Island.
A truly remarkable collection which I highly, highly recommend.

[Paloma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review in English | Reseña en Español

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

The stories that make up How We Disappear are exquisitely crafted, evocative, and full of nostalgia and longing for people, places, and dreams not yet fulfilled. These are stories about loss, longing and the desire for a different life, or a different outcome, which is a very common for humanity. There are many “what ifs” hanging in the air, and while many of the characters from these short stories do not get a resolution, there is at times, hope -or at least a sort of closure or resolution.

I will say I struggled to get investment in the three first stories, but after that, I was captivated by the author’s prose and by the depiction of what apparently are common, day to day lives, but hold so much richness and complexity inside. As in many short stories’ collections, some texts are less impactful than others but it’s impossible to deny that Tara Lynn Masih knows how to write and her storytelling is beautiful. I think I had not seen this in quite a long time. I also noted that, unlike a lot of recent fiction I’ve read, Masih’s stories have a purpose -there’s meaning to all what is narrated.

Another aspect I admire is the fact that the author includes a lot of diverse characters, and it never feels forced. I think we speak so much about diversity nowadays but in fiction, I sometimes wonder if diversity is included just because it is the right thing to do, often feeling weak within a story or completely unrelatable. In these stories, I felt there are many backgrounds, social classes and cultural groups understood and depicted within their specific contexts. This to me, shows respect from the author to her characters and to diversity.

My favorites stories were:
• What you can’t see in the picture – A story about a policewoman who can memorize faces and moments and hence, is key in the search of missing people. While physical recognition is import, she has this ability to see beyond that and focus on moments, actions, paths.

• Delight – A moving story about a woman living in Puerto Rico -named Delight- who has a physical imperfection and hence, expects to remain the rest of her life in her bakery, dealing with an alcoholic father. However, a U.S. man will change her life. I found this very touching as we learn from the difficulties Delight has lived through because of her appearance and the loneliness she has endured. She’s not resentful at all, and that what makes her an extraordinary character.

• If you had stopped – I liked this story because I often think about what people in need think about those who are more on the middle-class side. The story is told from the perspective of a woman selling food at the highway and what she thinks about those tourists, drivers, that pass by without looking at her. What difference can buying from someone at the streets do to their lives? It can mean the world and we never might now.

• Bird Man - The story of a woman in search of her father’s grave in Europe. He died in combat during World War II and his body was never repatriated, so she grew up not only missing his father but also having no closure as she was unsure where his remains were.

• Notes to the World – My favorite story in the collection. A hunter in Siberia gets trapped during a thunderstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned cottage, where he finds the diary of a woman who lived previously there. This woman grew in isolation with a family that gave up on the world according to a tradition from the 16TH century. Her writings keep this man alive and when he thought his meaning had no purpose, he found one in her musings.

• An Aura Surround the Night – a sad, moving novella about family and loss in rural America. Two sisters, different and yet very close, face many adventures, hardships included, during their childhood. But one of them goes missing and the family is torn apart. Beautifully written and despite touching on some very dark topics, there’s a glim of hope on it.
_____

De los pocos libros que he obtenido a través de NetGalley que valen mucho la pena. Una colección de cuentos y una novela corta que exploran la pérdida de los seres queridos, de oportunidades, de una vida entera, a través de distintos personajes con contextos y expectativas diferentes. La forma de escribir de la autora construye una atmósfera pesada, muchas veces triste y llena de cuestionamientos, pero la narrativa es impecable porque uno se sumerge en la vida de los personajes, en sus temores, deseos y sueños.

Una de mis críticas recurrentes durante los últimos años, y más sobre la literatura en inglés, es que con frecuencia no logro conectar con los personajes ni con sus historias. Muchas veces se leen personajes superfluos, enfocados en problemas un tanto triviales y con poca empatía con el mundo a su alrededor. No es el caso con How We Disappear. Si bien no todas las historias fueron de mi agrado -algunas me parecieron un poco lentas- creo que los personajes están perfectamente construidos y sus historias son profundas y emotivas al explorar temas como el deseo, la soledad, la pérdida y la ausencia de personas, o de incluso sueños.

Historias bien escritas, cuidadas, que vale la pena leer.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒆- 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.

This is a beautifully written collection of stories, whether haunted by the past, oneself or comforted by a ghost that asks nothing of you, there is a statement made in disappearing. There is always something to unpack when a character has one foot in the spirit world and the other in the living, whether you believe it’s genuine or psychological. The meaning of ghosts is clever here, as in the first story What You Can’t See In The Picture, time has passed, images on CCTV are themselves ghost moments, whether the people captured in footage are still living or dead the point is, they are ghosts the character has to bring back to life. It’s her job, to find criminals or the last moments of those gone missing. She must piece together and help solve mysteries. The ghost in Fleeing Gravity is a Wolf, a viscous hunter destroying cattle and sheep, terrorizing the cattle ranchers and sheep farmers. The beast is tracked and killed, eventually, on the same night Brandy is born. His Cree mother tells him that some of the spirit left the ‘divine animal’ and entered him. He grows up unsure of what he is, Indian? Wolf? White? The natural world speaks to him, he is pained by the trees that must be felled by his father, men like him on their mountain, who make their living in lumber. It is during lean times he grows up, with rough love, but soon his life with them will only be an echo of the past. His haunting journey turns supernatural when he leaves his tribe and the basin. Through his travels he finds work at a pioneer ghost town, and this is where his heart finds anchor. It’s eerie and beautiful. He finds a home lost to time, in a sense, and the historical fiction swimming through the tales are fascinating. The Wolf hauntings began during the great depression and the hard scrabble living of his mother and father is a reminder of an earlier America. It’s interesting how people are molded by the times, none of us escapes this.

Disappearing can be a retreat, a choice. Agatha Christie, the famous English Writer known for her detective stories, learned how to be released from silence in youth and later during her marriage found a trick to escape the pain and noise of her life, even if it had to be stolen. I felt my heart crack in this tale of abandonment, the cold wind of betrayal and the hunger to just get through it, to learn how to live again. Sometimes our former selves are phantoms too.

Characters mourn the loss of connections, those made and bonds that were never born, are victims of abduction, live vague lives, speak to the spirit of their mother in the mouth of a snake, walk upon piles of mayflies, and struggle with the hurt of being a mystery to their partner. Characters live in places that others pass by, leave notes to the world they have chosen to leave behind, are branded by memories, or pluck chickens on a family farm. They are all waiting for something to happen or learning how to move on from the strange or tragic turn their lives have taken. Some seek comfort through clairvoyance, others through running away but all of them confront disappearance in many forms. The stories are engaging, rich inventions full of depth and meaning. I look forward to reading more by Tara Lynn Masih, not all short stories pluck the heartstrings.

Publication Date: September 13, 2022

Press 53

[Deseray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing about this book or the author before delving in. I saw the description and thought it might be something good to pass the time, and honestly, I wasn't expecting to like it too much. I actually really enjoyed it, it was a fun and short book filled with short novellas/short stories pertaining to people, and how people disappear, go missing, are both here yet also not. I really liked the authors writing style, although it did feel a bit repetitive at times. It wasn't too lyrical or descriptive where you get lost in the words and forget what you're reading, yet it's just enough for you to feel transported throughout the story. My favourite of the short stories is definitely the first one"When You Can't See in the Picture", I found myself wanting a whole story of just this. "Agatha" was also a really good read. Overall, this was a good entertainment and I can see myself reading more of this author's work.

[Martine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of stories that revolve around loss and rediscovery. I thought the author was brilliant in the variety of stories she gave us, but especially in the way they were written. So much was said in so little words. I especially liked the short story with Agatha Christie. Really well done!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of stories. My favorite was Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments, followed by What You Can't See in the Picture.

All of the stories are beautifully wriitwn.