WHORE'S CHILD

In this entrancing first collection of stories, a master storytellerfocuses on a fresh and fascinating range of human behaviour, revealinghimself as an even more versatile and accomplished writer than hisacclaimed novels have shown. As with all Russo's characters, we warm tothese newcomers almost in spite of themselves. In the title story, aseptuagenarian nun resolutely invades the narrator's college writingworkshop with an incredible saga; a seasoned Hollywood moviemaker uncoversa 25-year-old flame he never knew he'd harboured; a precious fifth-graderpuzzles over life, love and baseball as he watches his parents' marriagedissolve; another child is forced into a harrowing cross-country escape;and an elderly couple rediscover the power - and misery - of theirrelationship during a long-awaited retreat to a hurricane-swept resortisland.