The Pain Tree

This collection of short fiction from Senior is a beautiful if uneven assemblage. Though her prose prowess is always on exquisite display, there are tonal and thematic miscues in stories such as "The Pain Tree" and "Coal," in which character depth is unusually absent and the interracial interactions%E2%80%94one of the central components of the collection%E2%80%94come across as forced and stereotyped. Those flaws are somewhat baffling, given the author's personal connection to the stories' subject matter and her use of Jamaican culture and history as the basis for her work. Other stories in the collection don't falter when engaging similar concerns. "Boxed-In" and "The Country Cousin" vacillate between effectiveness and slippage for their own reasons, and "Moonlight" and "A Father Like That" aren't strong enough for what else is represented. But other stories, such as "Silent," "The Goodness of My Heart," "Lollipop," and "Flying," all soar. Even with its occasional failings, this collection is well worth reading. (Sept.) [2015]