BkMk Press 

175 pgs/$12

Laura Maylene Walter’s Living Arrangements is a collection of finely honed stories, all deeply concerned with place and memory. Her stories are quietly resonant–beneath the everyday veneer of each of her characters, Walter clarifies their internal tempests; their struggles with identity and belonging, desire and grief. I’m proud to say Walter is also a heartland lady, living an afternoon car ride away from me in Lakewood, Ohio.

Her book opens with “you,” years ago, when “you” were “a newborn, a wrinkled girl confined to your crib, the high chair, the stroller,” in the book’s opener, the titular Living Arrangements. I was immediately taken in by this second person narration, this plain focused care. The story Living Arrangements takes us through the life of a woman, to each of the places and times that hold magic for her, that are still sharp, years later, the living arrangements almost characters themselves, the way places that have held us can become in our minds. I simply cannot narrow down my choices for a quote, so you will just have to trust me. It’s badass.

The vast majority of Walter’s protagonists are women and girls, but her male protagonist in The Ballad Solemn of Lady Molena is a true marvel. It is always hard for me to pick favorites (see above), but The Ballad Solemn of Lady Molena may be the crowning jewel of this debut.

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