The author of three novels — Sleep Toward Heaven, How to Be Lost and Forgive Me — with yet another on the way, Austin’s own Amanda Eyre Ward has added the first short story collection to her oeuvre, an impressive one at that, Love Stories in this Town.

Actually, Amanda has been writing short stories longer than novels. In fact, her first story was published in the Austin Chronicle as the third place winner of their annual short fiction contest. Many of these stories appeared first in top-notch journals like Tin House, Story Quarterly and Pindeldyboz – all of them invariably suggestive of Ward’s particular style.

Following up on Forgive Me, which was also reviewed in this magazine, the stories in this collection pick up on Amanda’s usual discussion of motherhood – and, of course, love – in their myriad forms and shades of truth. Like the films of Pedro Almodóvar, her stories somehow find a way to discuss motherhood from as many perspectives as there are things a mother could consider. Never tedious, always enlightening, she delivers time and again, with firmly planted stories – often surprising the reader with bits like, “After the first year or so of gleeful intercourse had not resulted in a baby, my husband and I started to get serious.”

Filled with wanderlust, Amanda crisscrosses the United States of Amor-ica in two parts – one exclusively devoted to a character named Lola, who spends time in Montana, Colorado, New York, Austin, even the Middle East. Interestingly, but probably unimportantly, the story “On Messalonskee Lake” is also in two parts – the first in first-person, the second in a third-person, which corresponds to the two respective parts of the collection. Either way, with equal weight given to both parts at six a piece, Ward’s collection is solidly constructed of funny, innovative stories guided by a clearly defined moral compass.

The Lola stories begin with Ward’s first published work, “Miss Montana’s Wedding Day,” the last line of which lends this collection its name: “There are no love stories in this town.” As Ward suggests, Lola leaves that town in search of her own life and her own happiness. The daughter of a rich man and his wife, who lived in the perfect home, were members of the perfect country club and yet lost it all to drink, Lola grew up wealthy but learned what it was to be poor. Her father gave up on life and left his family; her mother got a job and raised Lola the best she could. Years later, Lola must deal with her father and make difficult decisions related to – and shining light upon – the void he tore in her life. Reminiscent of Philip Roth’s protagonist in When She Was Good, Lola must figure out how she thinks of her father for herself, although it isn’t easy.

In contrast to the first set of stories, the Lola stories deal less with themes of pregnancy and motherhood; although they do in fact touch on these subjects, their usage is often more incidental, rather than imperative to the meaning of the stories. Having been rearranged and adjusted to create a composite character from what once were originally separate stories, the six Lola stories explore what one imagines to be the writer’s self, as determined by the writer herself through careful selection of personalities in a variety of stories. Lola’s character presents the stages of personal growth, as she figures out how to be her own person, what really is ethical or not, and how to raise a family the right way – or, at least, a better way.

But the first part of six stories of this collection is perhaps more interesting. These stories are indeed small worlds unto themselves; all fairly idiosyncratic, they carry a strong resonance of something that is unmistakably Amanda Eyre Ward. Little insights that for others might come across forced or contrived are a revelatory force in Amanda’s writing – much like that of Grace Paley, with the grace of Paley, too.
Amanda Ward deals with difficult subject matter in a way few can. With her calm, collected prose, she traverses vast moral obstacle courses without blinking an eye or losing a step. Perhaps this is something she learned from her former professor, Jim Shepard, whose short fiction tackles such ethical questions on a regular basis. This is perhaps Ward’s strongest trait: her ability to tactfully approach anything; in a way, it is what mothers do best.

In “Miss Montana’s Wedding Day” Amanda alludes to one of Raymond Carver’s best-known short stories “A Small Good Thing.” It’s no accident, of course, that she has mastered Carver’s most effective device: setting symbols and parallels on a collision course to the conclusion, delighting the reader with meaning along the way. Likewise, one is reminded of Lorrie Moore and Ann Beattie for the sense of humor imbued in these stories of loss and redemption, paranoia and peace, despair and hope – all of which are part of love.

Ward’s next novel concerns two sisters, a murder and a whiskey-drinking mother. With inspiration ranging from Jonathan Franzen and Stewart O’Nan to Kate Atkinson and Ann Patchett, the voracious reader and writer Amanda Ward is likely to deliver yet another quality novel about women for everyone.
Ward says, “If novels are like a long car ride… short stories are a perfect evening.” This is, of course, only true for very good short stories. But Ward’s should be included in that ilk — that of very good short stories, which can lead to perfect evenings.


If you have any perfect evenings or otherwise that you’d like to share with Amanda, you can enter the love story contest on her Web site lovestoriesinthistown.com for a chance to win a $200 dinner at the restaurant of your choice.