“The grammar of melancholy is transformed by the supple wit of A.S. Penne’s writing. Droll, clear-eyed, and compassionate, this first collection marks the emergence of a wickedly talented star in the Canadian firmament.”
In Reckoning, A.S. Penne scrutinizes the all too human desire to be understood and known by others before first understanding and knowing oneself.
“Summer About to Happen” reveals a teenager’s first foray into the realm of desire, which ends in shock as she understands her fantasy love will never materialize. The father in “A Different Kind of Wanting” struggles to come to terms with the death of a son he never learned to accept. “Heat” explores the eaning of friendship when a woman takes stock of the expectations she has of her partner and of her friend. In “Threshold” the superstitions of a confirmed bachelor convince him that a woman he works for is his intended soul-mate.
The characters in Reckoning are adrift, reluctant to fully engage in their lives. Eventually, through a tumult of conflicting emotions, they come to a reckoning point and are forced to accept culpability for refusing to meet life and love head-on.
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