Jewels in the Dust

Dust Jacket by Edward Miller.

In the pages of this latest collection of downright delicate, often enchanting and occasionally distressing stories from the pen of award-winning Peter Crowther you will encounter:

• two boys who discover an elaborate trap to capture fairies;
• a young musician haunted by the song 'Moonlight In Vermont';
• a small-time crook about to fall under the spell of London while, at the same time, rediscovering his wife;
• a family who happen across a store with a back door that takes you back to your favorite past;
• a Runyon-esque gambler with the strangest set of dice you ever saw;
• a couple jaded with their life together who are re-visited by their collective histories;
• an unusual visitor who rolls in one fall day under cover of a mighty thick fog just to touch base with someone he maybe once knew;
• a dying man who learns that most important of all lessons: his life has been more worthwhile than he realized; and
• a carnival come to visit the small turn-of-the-century Texas town of Gault, there to make a big impression on two young women on the cusp of…well, on the cusp of so many things.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and, by golly, you’ll want to sleep with the light on. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Limited: 750 signed numbered hardcover copies

Table of Contents:

• The Bachelor
• The Fairy Trap
• Old Delicious Burdens
• Dei Gratia
• Boxing Day
• The Musicians of Bremen, GA
• Circling the Drain
• Things I Didn’t Know My Father Knew
• Breathing in Faces
• Jewels in the Dust
• Tomorrow Eyes
• The Doorway in Stephenson’s Store
• Thoughtful Breaths
• Story Notes

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):
“Crowther (Forever Twilight) unearths intelligence and compassion in the crawlspaces of the human heart with these atmospheric and emotionally intensive excursions between reality and fantasy. Versatility of theme and palpable mood breathe life in these modern myths of transformation and revelation. Genre staples (time travel, ghosts, fairies) are anchored in—and enlivened by—scenes of everyday people struggling to live and love and dream.”

From Tor.com:
“The oddest thing about the collection is how straightforward all these stories are in terms of narrative technique. There’s an almost retro-like sensibility to them: stories deliberately written in an old-fashioned, conversational style, often somewhat rambly, as if you’re sitting down with someone who’s spinning his tale on the spur of the moment—someone who might start his tale with ‘Now looky here son, it was back in ‘45…’ and then just takes it from there, side-bars and all. I suspect many of these stories would work very well in audio format, if delivered by the right narrator.”