coming soon!
The Periodic Family
by Claudia Monpere
PREODER THE EBOOK HERE.
Paperback and Ebook available October 13th!
“From the brilliantly original mind of writer Claudia Monpere, comes her debut collection, The Periodic Family. In these stories, Monpere gives voice to the complexities of families and motherhood and trauma through the language of science and nature. A writer of incredible range, she knows how and when to ‘tell it slant’ and how to deftly draw emotion and empathy from her readers. I was especially clobbered by the power and mastery on display in ‘Solar Flare,’ ‘Body Migration,’ and ‘Jeopardy,’ but every single one of these gems is evidence of a writer who wields the short form with grace and confidence. This debut is simply a knockout, not to be missed.”
–Kathy Fish, author of Wild Life: Collected Works
“Claudia Monpere’s debut story collection, The Periodic Family, is full of ghosts: literal ghosts who repair roofs, ghost children who protest gun violence and turn everything they touch into vines, but also metaphorical ghosts. Many of Monpere’s characters are stuck in what one story calls ‘the after”—the wake of bad decisions, missed opportunities, warning signs disregarded. Characters struggle to heal in the wake of catastrophic losses and to survive in a world that denies them ownership of their bodies. ‘You want to howl when people say what a gift it is,’ thinks one woman about her life, but Monpere shows us, with her cartwheeling coffins, joyful ghosts, Barbies dressed to the nines, defiant survivors, that it is a gift. I love this stunning, strange, oddly exuberant book.”
–Kim Magowan, author of The Last Day
“Spiral deep into this nebula of stories bursting with the cosmic dust of love and loss, longing and letting go. In The Periodic Family, Claudia Monpere performs a skillful sublimation, transforming you with each story, from a woman whose punishment is losing her sense of touch, to a houseless mother holding on to her children's shark toys, from a proliferation of purple to the balm of beige, each narrative, each character, each color, each word will carry you along, like a snow melt, like a firefly's flash, like a lullaby.”
–Melissa Llanes Brownlee, author of Bitter Over Sweet
“The word masterclass is thrown around all too easily these days, but Claudia Monpere’s The Periodic Family is certainly a masterclass in flash. Each of these stories sparkles with sinister goodness in every line: so compelling, so creative. I can’t wait for you to read this.”
–Christopher Allen, publisher of SmokeLong Quarterly
“I absolutely love and marvel at the extraordinary writing found in Claudia Monpere's debut collection, The Periodic Family. This gifted writer creates flash fictions, at times breathless, luminous, hybrid gems, and pieces teeming with magical realism, many revealing the different dynamics of countless families. Monpere’s characters sing within her creations full of innovation and details that enlighten the darkest sky, bringing forth the beauty of starlight as only this writer can. These are husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, parents and siblings, uncles and friends and lovers. Many cope with dysfunction, grief, quiet love and reassurances, and the pure joy of new life. Monpere has introduced me to a new periodic table of lost and found souls, unique individuals all. And I'm grateful to have experienced this must-read collection.”
–Dan Crawley, author of Blur
Cowboy Jamboree Press
good grit lit.
Paperback and Ebook available October 13th!
“From the brilliantly original mind of writer Claudia Monpere, comes her debut collection, The Periodic Family. In these stories, Monpere gives voice to the complexities of families and motherhood and trauma through the language of science and nature. A writer of incredible range, she knows how and when to ‘tell it slant’ and how to deftly draw emotion and empathy from her readers. I was especially clobbered by the power and mastery on display in ‘Solar Flare,’ ‘Body Migration,’ and ‘Jeopardy,’ but every single one of these gems is evidence of a writer who wields the short form with grace and confidence. This debut is simply a knockout, not to be missed.”
–Kathy Fish, author of Wild Life: Collected Works
“Claudia Monpere’s debut story collection, The Periodic Family, is full of ghosts: literal ghosts who repair roofs, ghost children who protest gun violence and turn everything they touch into vines, but also metaphorical ghosts. Many of Monpere’s characters are stuck in what one story calls ‘the after”—the wake of bad decisions, missed opportunities, warning signs disregarded. Characters struggle to heal in the wake of catastrophic losses and to survive in a world that denies them ownership of their bodies. ‘You want to howl when people say what a gift it is,’ thinks one woman about her life, but Monpere shows us, with her cartwheeling coffins, joyful ghosts, Barbies dressed to the nines, defiant survivors, that it is a gift. I love this stunning, strange, oddly exuberant book.”
–Kim Magowan, author of The Last Day
“Spiral deep into this nebula of stories bursting with the cosmic dust of love and loss, longing and letting go. In The Periodic Family, Claudia Monpere performs a skillful sublimation, transforming you with each story, from a woman whose punishment is losing her sense of touch, to a houseless mother holding on to her children's shark toys, from a proliferation of purple to the balm of beige, each narrative, each character, each color, each word will carry you along, like a snow melt, like a firefly's flash, like a lullaby.”
–Melissa Llanes Brownlee, author of Bitter Over Sweet
“The word masterclass is thrown around all too easily these days, but Claudia Monpere’s The Periodic Family is certainly a masterclass in flash. Each of these stories sparkles with sinister goodness in every line: so compelling, so creative. I can’t wait for you to read this.”
–Christopher Allen, publisher of SmokeLong Quarterly
“I absolutely love and marvel at the extraordinary writing found in Claudia Monpere's debut collection, The Periodic Family. This gifted writer creates flash fictions, at times breathless, luminous, hybrid gems, and pieces teeming with magical realism, many revealing the different dynamics of countless families. Monpere’s characters sing within her creations full of innovation and details that enlighten the darkest sky, bringing forth the beauty of starlight as only this writer can. These are husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, parents and siblings, uncles and friends and lovers. Many cope with dysfunction, grief, quiet love and reassurances, and the pure joy of new life. Monpere has introduced me to a new periodic table of lost and found souls, unique individuals all. And I'm grateful to have experienced this must-read collection.”
–Dan Crawley, author of Blur
Cowboy Jamboree Press
good grit lit.