Stories by @margie602

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

Multi-generational story set in an upstate NY manufacturing town.

Flesh by David Szalay

A visceral exploration of desire and disconnection, *Flesh* follows a middle-aged man navigating the murky landscape of casual encounters and digital intimacy. Trapped between loneliness and compulsion, he pursues fleeting physical connections through dating apps and chance meetings, each encounter revealing the hollow core beneath surface attraction. As he moves through encounters with various women—each with their own vulnerabilities and secrets—he confronts uncomfortable truths about himself: his inability to genuinely connect, his self-deception, and the emotional toll of treating intimacy as transaction. The narrative strips away pretense to expose the raw, often uncomfortable reality of modern desire. Szalay crafts a darkly honest portrait of a man searching for meaning in meaningless encounters, where physical closeness only deepens his isolation. A haunting meditation on human connection in an age of unprecedented access and profound emptiness.

The Accidental Favorite

A novel by Fran Littlewood about three sisters at a family get-together. Chapters alternate between the different sisters' points of view and memories.

Tell Me Everything

A novel by Elizabeth Strout that continues following the lives of characters from previous books- "Lucy", "Bob", and "William", to name a few. "Olive" also makes an appearance.

The Burgess Boys

A novel about three adult siblings from Maine during a family crisis.

She Regrets Nothing

A novel by Andrea Dunlop A working class girl from Michigan is discovered by wealthy cousins she didn't know she had after the death of her mother and invited to come to New York to start a new life.

Thorn Tree

Set in both present day and the late 60's early/70's a mystery about how two men's actions taken in their youth has led them to where they are now.

Blue Ruin

A man who was once an up and coming artist ends up living out of his car and delivering groceries twenty years later during COVID. On one of his deliveries, he is shocked to discover the lavish, secluded compound he is delivering to is inhabited by his ex-girlfriend and former best friend- the man she ran off with twenty years ago.

The Road from Belhaven

Set in 1890's Scotland, a young farm girl living with her grandparents has visions of things in the future. her life changes when she meets a tailor's apprentice.

Everything's Fine

A novel by Cecilia Rabess. A recent college grad faces conflicting aspirations and values while developing a relationship with a former classmate, now a co-worker. Set in the waning months of the Obama era.

Mayluna

A mother relates the story of her past relationship with a rock musician on the brink of fame in the late 90's to her adult children. A novel by Kelley McNeil