Adult

A police officer fresh out of the academy becomes acutely aware of the deadly consequences of prejudice and how biases color our actions, leading us to justify faulty choices. A teenager has lost her voice and resorts to violence to get heard, even against those she loves. A university student breaks a law on a night of youthful revelry, which soon has fatal consequences that plunge those involved into an abyss of remorse. A mother commits the very same crime her son is being prosecuted for, in order to protect him. A man extends a helping hand in defiance of state restrictions, keeping a refugee safe from the harsh Swedish winter and deportation. In STILL LIFE, Malin Persson Giolito sheds light on the lives of people at all levels of society through 10 thought-provoking and emotionally charged stories.

Lore Segal was a master of the short story, and this collection shows her in peak form. Profound, dark and often hilarious, Segal portrays her characters' foibles, eccentricities and passions with great compassion and exactness, as they grapple with life, aging and each other. Readers of LADIES' LUNCH will recognize the educated, urbane nonagenarian women who have been friends for a lifetime, as they tackle aging’s affronts with wit, grace and resourcefulness.

Phil is ordinary. A mid-level Washington lobbyist for a decidedly unsexy organization, unhappy in the way all mildly successful, minimally influential men are. That is until the spring of 2019, when Phil’s picks for the NCAA March Madness Tournament start panning out. He really may do it: predict a perfect bracket for a billion-dollar prize. At first, Cassandra is just along for Phil’s soaring rise --- she had foreseen it happening, after all. Despite moving in different circles since their shared university days and Cassandra never much liking him, she recognizes in Phil the making of a legend worthy of the highest art. What Cassandra fails to predict, though, is just how much she’d grow to care about Phil’s wife, Raleigh --- and that the grandest narrative arcs sometimes unfold at the steepest of personal costs.

In 1928, a Chattanooga man disappears down a hole in the ground and discovers a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain that he names after his wife: Ruby Falls. Within months, visitors can buy tickets to see the falls for themselves. Ada Smith has been sneaking into the caves at night, entranced by the natural wonders around her. As the country flounders in the Great Depression, a shrewd public relations ploy seems like the only way to save Ruby Falls. A famous mind reader and mystic agrees to launch himself into the Ruby Falls caverns where he will attempt to locate a hidden hatpin using only his psychic abilities. Ada and another guide, Quinton, have been asked to follow the mind reader’s party at a distance, staying out of sight. One of them will be dead before the end of the day.

Childhood sweethearts Rhett and Lucinda seem to have the perfect marriage, the child they always wanted, and even the white picket fence. But 15 years ago, the couple came very close to losing everything. When outsider Jennifer Moore arrived in their tight-knit Kentucky town, a brief but explosive affair between the newcomer, and the soon-to-be-married Rhett stirred up a violent storm of betrayal that ended with a dead body and a mystery riddled with corruption and deception. Now, new evidence has surfaced --- including an eyewitness who places Rhett at the scene of the brutal crime. Soon the carefully constructed life Rhett and Lucinda built starts to crumble --- and the truth waiting beneath the surface could destroy them both.

In the beautiful and dangerous landscape of Lake Geneva, in the shadow of the Swiss Alps, renowned writer Marceau Miller is found dead. In the wake of the tragedy, his wife, Sarah, discovers a manuscript he's left behind, entitled The Story of Marceau Miller. With the support of close friends, Sarah struggles to hold herself together while caring for her two children and coping with the mounting questions surrounding her famous husband's death. Was it an accident or part of some darker game? Compelled to find the truth, Sarah unravels secrets that make her question everything --- and everyone --- around her. Who can she possibly trust? Her journey from grief to revelation captures the nuance of marriage to a man who remains an enigma. Who is Marceau Miller, really?

It’s 1979 in Yorkshire, England, and 12-year-old Miv is panicking. Life has been complicated since her mom got sick, and now her dad is talking about wanting to move their family away from the town Miv has lived in her whole life --- because of the murders. Young women are dying, and no one knows who the culprit might be. But as far as Miv is concerned, leaving Yorkshire and her best friend, Sharon, simply isn't an option. Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all. So Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things on their street. But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighborhood, within their families --- and between each other --- than they ever thought possible.

Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister. Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can't convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.

After Annabelle Gurwitch received an out-of-the-blue diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer, an existential dread set in. Precision medicine offered a temporary reprieve --- but instead of turning into a cancer warrior, Annabelle declared herself a cancer slacker. Her motto: no runs, no ribbons, no religion. Told with her signature wit, warmth and gimlet eye, Gurwitch draws inspiration from Greek mythology and TV comedies, Kermit the Frog and Samuel Beckett. She accidentally acquires an angel, embraces being in it “just for the sex,” and finds herself on a European van tour selling merch for a heavy metal band.

A penniless and out-of-work actor picks up a job working for Dr. Blend, a university professor who is conducting a psychological experiment. How will Dr. Blend’s students react to someone zipped into an oversized bag, sitting at the back of the lecture hall over a series of Fall lectures? The role, eagerly accepted, soon has unexpected consequences. A professor of post-humanism develops research questions of her own --- in particular, can you love someone secreted away inside a black bag? --- and the actor’s childhood friend forms a vision for monetizing this new situation.