WINTER HONEYMOON

Nine short stories examine the fictions, compromises, and standoffs people make to cope.

Appel, a physician, attorney, bioethicist, and teacher at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, possesses such a mind-boggling array of accomplishments, degrees, and awards (including seven Kirkus starred reviews) that he was recently the subject of a documentary, Jacob (2019). In his sixth book for Black Lawrence Press, the author continues to explore situations that test his characters’ abilities to meet such challenges as mortality, disappointment, and failure. Often, their solutions are to invent tales that, to paraphrase Joan Didion, they tell themselves in order to live; much of Appel’s work has demonstrated a fascination with the moral conundrums of well-crafted fakery. In “The Other Sister,” for example, Victoria learns unexpectedly as a girl that she had a twin sister, Oriana, who died when only a few days old. Grown up, Victoria’s sister Sandy becomes “a homely, church-going spinster” who looks upon her more glamorous sibling’s life with envy. Over the years, Sandy has invented a spectacularly fabulous life for Oriana pieced together “from shards of fantasy”: high-society affairs, archaeological expeditions, and a “lemur-watching expedition in Madagascar.” By the end, Sandy newly understands her ethical complicity in essentially wishing it had been Victoria who died. Appel’s own craft includes unforgettable, often very funny opening lines; the title story begins, “During the final weeks of her husband’s illness, Edith befriended the demented priest in the neighboring bed.” The author, poetlike, can suggest much through little, employing a keenly observant eye, deceptively clear prose, and striking similes. The old priest stumbles “from one setback to another, but courageously, like an imperial army in retreat.” Compassion and intelligence, both cognitive and emotional, shine forth from these stories.

A splendid collection of tales that delivers humor and poignance.