The twelve stories in Curtain Calls are about love, loss, aloneness and self-discovery told from the view of the very young to the elderly. No matter how heart-tugging the stories may be, there is always the redeeming element of humor. A widow meets her lover during a bank robbery; a nine-year-old confesses to the parish priest her fear she is going to murder someone; a man in his 80s learns that his buddy in assisted living is planning his wife’s mercy killing; after hitting a deer, a woman’s car catapults into a dark parkway where no one can hear her cries for help; a bored, stay-at-home young mother plots to attract her neighbor, a soldier recently back from the battlefield; a middle-aged bride’s obsessions come vicariously close to spoiling her honeymoon in Portugal. In the last story, “Curtain Calls” a once-glamorous Pop singer faces her nineties without her lover, a man who had lived life to the fullest.
To read an excerpt from Curtain Calls, please click HERE.
Praise for Curtain Calls:
“As a writer, I know how difficult the short story is to write. Of Barbara Riegel’s book Curtain Calls, I say Wow.” – Patrick L. Click HERE for the full review.
“I purchased a dozen copies to give as gifts. I love Mathias-Riegel’s ability to span the emotional gamut.” – Kathleen R. Click HERE for full review.
“Focused on issues of intimacy, aging and dying, I found Curtain Calls to be both haunting and hopeful.” – Gina R. Click HERE for full review.
