In Erika Krouse's fourth book, the sparkling short story collection Save Me, Stranger, chance meetings prompt realizations and momentous choices.
These 12 first-person narratives are voiced by people in crisis, whom Krouse adroitly and compassionately connects readers to, despite their sometimes extreme cases. But encounters with strangers tender the possibility of transformation. In the title story, the narrator is taken hostage during a convenience store hold-up. Seeing that she is shielding her 10-year-old daughter, a teenage boy steps forward to take the woman's place--and is soon shot dead by the robbers. This single mother's struggle to string together seedy cleaning jobs fades into insignificance compared to the mission of learning about and memorializing her savior. "Wounds of the Heart and Great Vessels" also epitomizes the title phrase. When Rachel meets anesthesiologist David through Internet dating, he's distraught over missing a fatal allergic reaction. By providing David with nourishment, rest, and reassurance, Rachel saves him--and that good deed gives her courage to face a tragedy from her past.
Krouse (Tell Me Everything) frequently focuses on young women presented with dilemmas. In "The Pole of Cold," Vera meets Theo, the son of the American weather researchers who died in the same Siberian plane crash that killed her reindeer herder father. Although Theo represents an opportunity to escape her harsh environs, home still exerts a strong pull. Elsewhere, in "When in Bangkok," a 12-year-old learns a secret about her father and considers revealing it during a disappointing family vacation. And in "The Blue Hole," a college junior contemplates what to do about her unplanned pregnancy while on a dicey scuba-diving trip.
Travel is a recurring element, with stories set in Thailand and Japan as well as various U.S. states: Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, Ohio. Krouse doesn't shy away from contentious matters, including suicide, domestic violence, abortion, and the handling of Nazi loot and Confederate artifacts. Sex work and gun culture creep into a racially divided Midwestern town in "North of Dodge," while "Eat My Moose" features veterans offering an assisted suicide service to the terminally ill. "Fear Me as You Fear God" adds a dollop of magic realism as a hotel ghost helps a woman confront her abusive husband.
Krouse exhibits tremendous range, imagining herself into a myriad places, minds, and situations. She often eschews tidy endings, leaving characters on the brink and allowing readers to draw inferences about what they will decide. Fans of Danielle Evans and Lauren Groff have a treat in store. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader and blogger at Bookish Beck
Shelf Talker: The dozen stories in Erika Krouse's sparkling second collection feature travel, controversial issues, and chance meetings as the characters approach epiphanies and decisions.