The Words of Dr. L
& Other Stories
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
National Book Award finalist Karen E. Bender returns with stunning speculative stories of parents and children, together and apart, surviving near-future dystopias that feel all-too-possible—and realities that can be even stranger
Grounded in both the contemporary United States and a variety of dystopias, celebrated author Karen E. Bender’s otherworldly collection examines the evolving dynamics of the nuclear family during adolescence, motherhood, the empty nest, and caring for an aging parent.
A young woman seeks to learn the magical words that can terminate her unwanted pregnancy. A mother discovers an extra child in her home she had forgotten about. A couple is separated from their son and encased in globes orbiting the Earth. Society develops a terrible plan to leave the burning planet for a life on Mars. Each story honors the emotional force of its situation by grappling with themes of freedom, self-definition, youth, aging, control, and power. Using settings both familiar and fantastic, Bender’s work explores the ordinary in the extraordinary to discover secret, hidden truths in the lifelong connection between parents and their children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bender's impressive latest (after The New Order) explores relationships between friends and family with a mix of speculative and realist tales. The narrator of "The Words of Dr. L" lives in a dystopian future where pregnant women are required by law to become mothers. She hopes to end her pregnancy, breaking from her best friend Joanne, who joins a group called Protection, established to shield women's fetuses from their "untoward thoughts." In the unsettling and dreamlike "The Extra Child," a couple drops off their youngest child at college, only to return home and find another child who "looked to be about ten" and claims to be theirs ("Suddenly, I knew it," the mother thinks. "I had given birth to him, clearly in some sort of haze, and then I had forgotten him"). The most moving story, "Arlene Is Dead," follows a family who care for their elderly relative Sylvia while weathering the Covid pandemic. In the monotony of quarantine, they become delighted by how animated Sylvia becomes when ranting about a self-absorbed friend. Bender's more fantastical stories recall the work of Isaac Asimov, while her realist takes offer insight into the complex lives of characters navigating loss and disappointment. It's an accomplished collection from a seasoned storyteller.
