Lewis J Beilman III

The Changing Tide Lewis J Beilman III

The Changing Tide includes ten short stories and a novella. The works represent several visions of a changing United States and feature characters who either embrace or reject the changes they experience. Issues addressed include immigration, racial and ethnic divisions, and sexual identity, among others. For example, in "Amigos," a former Connecticut factory worker is on suicide watch in a hospital after his wife's death. His interaction with a Peruvian janitor helps him to sweep away his anger and bigotry. Another story, "Movement," which is featured in the 2018 Adelaide Voices Literary Award Anthology, focuses on an interracial family that becomes lost while visiting Brooklyn on the Fourth of July. A close call in an unfamiliar neighborhood causes the family members to assess their views on authority and race relations. And, in "Nude Beach," a young woman indulges her boyfriend's desire to visit Miami's Haulover Beach on his birthday. There, a memory and a chance occurrence spark her to question her sexuality. Some of the stories reach firm conclusions, while others end enigmatically-but all are intended to appeal to a reader's sense of empathy without being maudlin or dogmatic.