Laura Van den Berg, "The Isle of Youth" (Andover)

In Laura van
den Berg’s gorgeous new book, The
Isle of Youth, she explores the
lives of women who are mired in secrecy and deception. Ranging from the
inscrutability of a marriage to private eyes working a baffling case in South
Florida to a teenager who assists her magician mother and steals from the
audience, these stories are linked by mystery and by women who are at once
vulnerable and dangerous, bighearted and ruthless—who will do what it takes to
survive.
The characters in these
stories share a sense of bewilderment, the sensation of having become lost in
the mysteries of the self and the world at large, that seems at once entirely
singular and utterly familiar. Van den Berg writes with an elegant urgency and
hypnotic rhythm, revealing the inner lives of marginalized young women who are
grappling with the choices they’ve made and are searching for the clues that
will unlock their lives. Van den Berg is a modest but fearless writer—her
stories feel both magical and mystical, earning her the title of “sorceress”
from her fans. Be prepared to fall under her spell.
Laura van den Berg’s debut story collection, What
the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, was a Barnes & Noble
Discover Great New Writers selection, a finalist for the Frank O’Connor
International Short Story Award, a finalist for the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award, and long-listed for
the Story Prize. Her stories have appeared in One Story, Conjunctions, Ploughshares, The Best American Nonrequired Reading
2008, and Best New American
Voices 2010, among other publications. A Florida native, she has an MFA from
Emerson College and is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize and scholarships from
the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. She lives in the
Laura van den Berg's gorgeous new book, The Isle of Youth, explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception.