Reflections on a Life in Exile

by J.F. Riordan

Overview

Recipient of the 2020 Shelf Unbound Notable Indie Award

A collection of essays by novelist J.F. Riordan, Reflections on a Life in Exile is easy to pick up and hard to put down. By turns deeply spiritual and gently comic, these brief meditations range from the inconveniences of modern life to the shifting nature of grief. Whether it's an unexpected revelation from a trip to the hardware store, a casual encounter with a tow-truck driver, the changing seasons, or a conversation with a store clerk grieving for a dog, J. F. Riordan captures and magnifies the passing beauty of the ordinary and the extraordinary that lingers near the surface of daily life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825308932
Publisher:	Beaufort Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/2019
Pages:	185
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

J. F. Riordan has worked in opera, in the classroom, and in philanthropy, but her first love is writing. She is the author of four novels in the award winning 'North of the Tension Line' series, and a book of essays, Reflections on a Life in Exile. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and three dogs.

Table of Contents

Preface x

1 The Speed of Time 1

2 Long Goodbye 2

3 Engelbert Humperdinck (The Real One) 5

4 Where We Are Now 7

5 Eulogy for My Father 9

6 In the Prayers of a Stranger 11

7 Pete Loses His Wingman 13

8 In Which Moses Leads His People Out of the Wilderness 16

9 Letter to a Veterinarian 22

10 Regret 23

11 Lost Youth 25

12 Last Day Norm of the Tension Line 28

13 Maybe Icarus Was a Turkey 30

14 In Praise of Small Towns 33

15 The Faith of Justine 36

16 The Nostalgia of Crows 39

17 Sing 41

18 An Inauspicious Beginning 43

19 What's Under My Desk 45

20 The Perils of Public Music 46

21 Real Cook Kitchen 49

22 The Island 56

23 Signs of Life 60

24 Last Peonies 61

25 Eulogy for My Mother 63

26 Gathering Storm 67

27 Love and Grief 69

28 The Going Price for Squirrels 71

29 And the Earth Stands Still 73

30 Moving Toward the Sun 74

31 Now Me Also Commenting Here 75

32 The Implausibility of Turkeys 78

33 Slow Turning 80

34 First Sing 81

35 An Editing Cautionary Tale 83

36 The Best Things Happen When You Aren't Looking 86

37 One Day in Spring 88

38 Another Sign of Spring 91

39 A Woman of a Certain Age 93

40 Going with the Flow 97

41 Letter to a Poet 99

42 Crossroads 102

43 Not Judging Books by Their Covers 103

44 The Kindness of Strangers 107

45 Between Despair and Pride 109

46 Heigh-ho! The Glamorous Life 111

47 Introduction of Charles Krauthammer 113

48 Letter to Rose 115

49 The Intricacies of Casual Conversation 117

50 I See You Never 121

51 A Thanksgiving for Orphans 123

52 Joys of the Season 125

53 Old Friends 126

54 Dog Joy 128

55 The Fault is Not in the Stars but in Ourselves 130

56 Moving Forward 132

57 The Memories of Objects 134

58 My Aunt Ruth 136

59 Big Fur Hat 138

60 Mouse Trap 140

61 Star-Crossed Love 144

62 Introduction of Alexander McCall Smith 146

63 What Writers Do When They Should be Writing 148

64 The Most Beautiful Day in the World 150

65 Delayed Gratification 153

66 One Tiny Light Goes Out 155

67 Living in Hope 156

68 Muse 157

69 Foe of Coyote Pagans 160

70 Pray for Ruth 161

71 For Ruth: A Remembrance 162

72 Missing Link 167

73 Letter to a Poet 2 170

74 Skunked 173

75 He's All Right 176

76 Souvenir 177

77 Island by Night 182

About the Author 185