Title: Revolver: Stories
Authors: Heidi Naylor
Publisher: By Common Consent Press
Genre: Short story collection
Year Published: 2018
Reviewed by Steven L. Peck
Naylor’s collection of short stories is art—literary, accessible, and delightful. Her vividly drawn characters seem like people you know or should know or maybe will know because they enter into your consciousness as if constructed from some combination of memory, experience, and imagination. As she writes her characters into life, you come away with a sense of their depth and complexity. I do not want to imply that they are over-presented with too much description, but rather like a painter, who with a few carefully chosen brush strokes, brings a sense of realism to her portraits. The stories themselves are rich in their variety, and explore human experience in ways that do not shy away from complexity or life’s grey areas (leaning to darker shades). I loved these stories, and Naylor is now someone whose name I’m going to watch for and eagerly snatch up when I find more. Don’t miss this collection. It is a fantastic achievement of a writer at the top of her craft. Highlights: ‘Language of Desire,’ ‘Names,” and the title story, ‘Revolver.’