You Are Here

Karin Lin-Greenberg (Vanished) is an award-winning short story writer, a skill that shines through in her debut novel, You Are Here. In it, she explores the many moments that make up a human life--and how the intersection of moments across many lives shapes new possibilities in unexpected ways. Jackson spends the hours after elementary school hanging out with his mother, Tina, at the mall salon where she works. He sometimes visits Maria, who dons a chicken costume each day after high school to serve sad food at the food court. Kevin manages the bookstore across from the salon, a job that offers a brief respite from an otherwise cramped life spent with his wife and rambunctious twin children in the tiny house he's built in his mother-in-law's yard. Ro, the elderly widow who lives next to the tiny house, visits the mall to get out of her house and interact with other people, even if those interactions often bring out her cruelty and prejudice.

At first glance, it's hard to see what these characters could have in common besides their frequenting of a soon-to-be-shuttered mall, but Lin-Greenberg weaves together their individual stories with skill and nuance. As their paths cross--both in and out of the mall itself--their lives become entangled in unexpected ways, until a shocking act of violence in the food court leaves them reeling as individuals and a community.

The small details of each character's experience provide a kaleidoscopic portrayal in this heartfelt exploration of what makes up a life: secret hopes and dreams, human interactions, moments of kindness and care. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

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