Natural History: Stories -- Andrea Barrett, Hardcover

In Natural History, Andrea Barrett completes the beautiful arc of intertwined lives of a family of scientists, teachers, and innovators that she has been weaving through multiple books since her National Book Award-winning collection, Ship Fever. The six exquisite stories in Natural History are set largely in a small community in central New York state and portray some of her most beloved characters, spanning the decades between the Civil War to the present day. In "Henrietta and Her Moths," a woman tends to an insect nursery as her sister's life follows a different path. In "Open House," a young man grapples with a choice between a thrilling life spent discovering fossils and a desire to remain close to home. And in the magnificent title novella, "Natural History," Barrett deepens the connection between her characters, bringing us through to the present day and providing an unforgettable capstone.

Told with Barrett's characteristic elegance, passion for science, and wonderful eye for the natural world, the psychologically astute and moving stories gathered in this collection evoke the ways women's lives and expectations--in families, in work, and in love--have shifted across a century and more. Building upon one another, these tales brilliantly culminate to reveal how the smallest events of the past can have large reverberations across the generations, and how potent, wondrous, and strange the relationship between history and memory can be.

Author: Andrea Barrett
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 09/13/2022
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.51h x 5.79w x 0.82d
ISBN: 9781324035190

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 04/01/2022 pg. 6
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2022
Publishers Weekly 07/25/2022
Booklist 08/01/2022 pg. 32