Jen Knox

After the Gazebo Jen Knox

Fiction. AFTER THE GAZEBO is a wonder: complex, compelling, beautifully told. Jen Knox writes with a deceptively quiet fierceness that will sneak up behind you and grab you by the throat, clutch your heart, and never let go. Her motley cast of characters find themselves caught at the fault line of before and after, tasked to challenge the veracity of whether 'a person can't start over if he's always looking back.' The disparate ways they claw and fight, strive and fail to succeed are testament to Knox's range and her deep understanding of the human condition. The stories in this accomplished collection will make you ache, will make you think, and will stay with you long after you turn the final page.--Sara Lippmann, author of Doll Palace

Jen Knox is a writer of honesty, and her stories always indicate her clear understanding that even those flawed people in the world have their moments of goodness and beauty and that we are all flawed. The stories in Knox's newest collection, AFTER THE GAZEBO, are impossible to read piecemeal. I devoured the book in one sitting and will read them again and again. Knox's writing is nuanced and strong, her stories filled with glorious gems of insight, which made me feel like a woman in a diamond mine, admiring dark walls studded with sparkling treasure. As I read each piece I discovered riches hiding in and between each narrative moment. Even in the most shadow-rich stories, Knox builds a kind of grace into her characters, showing empathy for the human condition that transcends the hurt, equalizes the pain. We want to know these people, ask them questions about their lives, and help them heal. We do know these people. They are our neighbors, our fellow workers, our families, ourselves. This gentle book is a triumph in which the seemingly ordinary becomes the extraordinary.--Joani Reese, Editor of MadHat Lit and author of Night Chorus