Splinter & Shard: Stories
$10.99-
A smashing debut collection from award-winning filmmaker Lulu Keating
Splinter & Shard is the debut story collection by acclaimed filmmaker-turned-writer Lulu Keating. Vivid and precise, the stories in this collection offer an uncompromising journey into what it means to be human.
Keating catches her characters at their pivotal moments of discovery, self-reckoning, and change. A dutiful mother of grown children learns a life-shattering secret about two of her children that upends her life. A macho man in mid-life must reconcile himself to his new role as a cosmetics consultant. A young woman, pregnant and unhappy, travels to the Yukon to bury her husband. An old woman turns away from her family to bond with the convicts of the small jail next door. An orphaned girl stumbles onto an unexpected connection with a stranger.
In these stories, flaws and strengths are writ large as characters fumble toward redemption.
From flash fiction to deep-dive character studies, Splinter & Shard turns over the rocks of everyday experience to reveal the psychological and philosophical truths underneath. The stories range back and forth in time, from Nova Scotia to the Yukon (with a side trip to Florida), and explore universal themes — loss, infidelity, faith, mortality, and love.
Available May 21, 2024. PRE-ORDER NOW!
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Lulu Keating is an award-winning TV and film director. Her stories have been published in Geist, the Globe and Mail, North of Ordinary, and What’s Up Yukon. Born in Nova Scotia, she now lives in Dawson City, Yukon.
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Published: May 2024
ISBN: 9781770417458
Dimensions: 5 x 8 in.
Pages: 192
Reviews
“The women in these pages walk away from convention, while the men struggle to make sense of the world. I love the ways that shafts of humour and farce pierce the confusion of self-discovery, while Keating’s careful attention to landscape and language creates a complete world within each story. A wonderful collection.” — Charlotte Gray, CM, author of Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt
“Keating’s characters walk in and out of these recorded moments. Authentic and flawed, they are whole people whose lives continue past these infectious stories of resilience, family, lovers, and rough terrain.” — Charlie Petch, author of Why I Was Late
“While the stories are short (some only a couple of pages long), the characters and settings are colourful and fully realized. Keating’s relatable protagonists often reconsider their futures after contending with a life-altering event. Many of her women are strong and ambitious, yet they regret missing out on more autonomous lives. Through their attempts to find meaning and connect with others, they exhibit a vulnerability and tenacity palpable to readers.” — Literary Review of Canada, Bookworm newsletter
“Highest praise for Splinter & Shard: hard-boiled and humming with energy. Like the best dance partner, Lulu Keating takes you by the hand, spins you around, keeps you on your toes, and leaves you smitten. More please!” — Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes
“Vivid and evocative, these richly rewarding stories dig deeply into the human experiences of love, loss, and hope.” — Anna Porter
“Keating seems to be contrasting the need to exert control over our lives through our institutions with the larger uncertainties of what fate has in store for us. It is insightful moments such as this that make Splinter and Shard worthy of any reader’s attention.” — Miramichi Reader