Dark Continent and Other Stories

These six tales introduce various, mostly small-town women, among them Africa, who is ``a strange terrain'' to certain men; Manila, who goes mad over her son's death in WW II; and Jolee, ambivalent toward her mother's irresponsible second husband. According to PW , ``Readers disaffected with trendy, minimalist, new-age fiction may enjoy Kalpakian's frankly sentimental storytelling.'' (Jan.)