The Last Romanov

The Last Romanov, by Dora Levy Mossanen. A tiny drop of blood blossoms in his navel, bubbling like a tiny underground well. The six-week-old Tsarevich is bleeding. The Empress presses her lips to her son's chest, slides a trembling finger across the blood worming down his...

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Beautiful Days

Beautiful Days, by Anna Godbersen. All was briefly calm on the street; he flashed her that exquisitely rare smile once and then he was gone. She could hear him running back to his car and the motor starting up, but she had already turned around and lifted her arms to greet...

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The Underside of Joy

The Underside of Joy, by Seré Prince Halverson. I recently read a study that claimed happy people aren't made. They're born. Happiness, the report pointed out, is all about genetics - a cheerful gene passed merrily, merrily down from one smiling generation to the next. I know...

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History of a Pleasure Seeker

History of a Pleasure Seeker, by Richard Mason. They looked at each other in silence. Now it was Jacobina who smiled, and when Piet did not look away, she felt embarrassed. But he was not, and his look conveyed this. She walked past him out of the room and climbed the stairs,...

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The Night Swimmer

The Night Swimmer, by Matt Bondurant. This is hard to describe now. I will have to carefully measure the tone. In my mind it is a story without words, only the shrill cry of heartbreak. I think of how much time I spent with my head in the water, swimming long stretches of the...

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