Southpaw - Softcover

Lisa St Aubin de Ter n was born in London in 1953. She has written seven novels, poetry, another collection of short stories and two memoirs of her time in Italy. THE HACIENDA, her memoir of her young marriage in Venezuela, was published in 1997 and received enormous acclaim. She now lives in Umbria.

Novelist and short story writer St. Aubin de Ter n (The Palace) here presents a group of stories written over the course of 25 years and set among people living on society's fringes in Venezuela and Italy. According to the author, the title "reflects the awkward, unexpected elements in these South Americans" and "the quirky southpaws of another south" (southern Italy). "Death of a Purist" presents the life and death of a man who fixes machinery in exchange for books, someone who understands the complexities of great literature but not the simple acts of daily life. An interlocking series of stories presents a Russian madam who may be the lost Anastasia and the abandoned orphan girl who becomes her confidante. While the Venezuelan stories feature lives of intense hardship, those set in Italy illuminate people of such desperate straits that they suffer even more when they lose the original cause of their suffering. The tales are beautifully told, but the total effect on the reader is quite depressing. For larger fiction collections. Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll.
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