the Girl of Lake: Stories

Bill Roorbach conjures vivid characters whose layered interior worlds feel at once familiar and extraordinary. He first made his mark as the winner of an O. Henry Prize for the title story of , his first collection, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award. His new collection, , captures a virtuoso in his prime.  Roorbach’s characters are unforgettable: among them an adventurous boy who learns what courage really is when an aging nobleman recounts history to him; a couple hiking through the mountains whose vacation and relationship ends catastrophically; a teenager being pursued by three sisters all at once; a tech genius who exacts revenge on his wife and best friend over a stolen kiss from years past. These moving and funny stories are as rich in scope, emotional, and memorable as Bill Roorbach’s novels. He has been called “a kinder, gentler John Irving... a humane and entertaining storyteller with a smooth, graceful style” (the ), and his work has been described as “hilarious and heartbreaking, wild and wise” ( magazine), all of which is evident in spades (and also hearts, clubs, and diamonds) in every story in this arresting new collection.