Hurricane Shoes and Other Stories is a collection of short stories that center on evolving and devolving relationships. The characters in these stories form tentative bonds with people in their lives while other relationships slip away. In "Hurricane Shoes," Katrina attempts to reinvent herself by ending an affair. Katrina's pregnancy and her mother's cancer pull the two women closer. "Da's Violets" is about Cheryl's changing relationship with her father. Just as he moves on from the wife who left him for her podiatrist, the wife returns with hopes to reconcile. These stories catch characters in moments when they must make difficult choices and endure the uncertainties and ambiguities of relationships. In "Lady Luck," Laurel is a cocaine addict and alcoholic on the verge of finalizing a divorce. She propositions a young man named River to exchange sex for money. River turns the table, and offers Laurel a deal where she'll have all the money and drugs she wants, as long as she helps him transport cocaine. "Bridges" is a coming of age story in which Linda and Kristin have a close call with a train, and Linda matures as she realizes love has limits. The catalyst for changing relationships is sometimes an exchange between characters. In "Special Son," Mark's father is dying of cancer. The father asks his son to take special care of his mother, and Mark needs his father to finally acknowledge Mark's sexuality. In "Swim or Sink," Doreen befriends her campground neighbor, Michael McBride. McBride has been living at the campground since he left his cheating wife, and he offers Doreen insight when she discovers her husband's infidelity. Together the stories function as a mosaic--each very different, but a complement to the others in forming a larger portrayal of relationships.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-5450 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Creators | Smeltzer, Kristie |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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