The Woods

Obuchowski’s lucid debut collection digs into the isolation and complexities of her characters’ inner worlds. In “The Cat,” a lonely college professor’s discontent in her secluded college town comes into focus when a feral cat starts paying her visits, and all she can think about is how she’d rather have a dog. “The Chair” follows an elderly woman tending to her husband while he is on bed rest from a broken ankle, during which she wrestles with feelings of anticipated loss and grief over a future without him. “Mountain Shade” explores bereavement as a middle-aged college professor copes with self-pity and culpability in the aftermath of her husband’s sudden death. In “Potions,” a woman spends the day playing with her six-year-old and realizes her husband might be having an affair. “Self-Preservation” involves a couple who move to Vermont from Southern California after the loss of their child; the grieving mother finds she cannot start a new life before allowing herself to mourn. Though the stories can feel a bit drawn out, there are evocative interior descriptions and subtle revelations about the characters’ relationships to place. Obuchowski’s smart and low-key stories are an acquired taste, but they just may be the thing for the right patient reader. (Nov.)