Alabama Stories

Set in Alabama over a period of fifty years beginning in the late 1940s, this exquisite collection of fifteen short stories provides snapshots into the lives of different characters. The link between the stories is Billy, AKA William Vernon Johnson. Though they can be read as stand-alone stories, the collection chronicles the life of young Billy from a young boy to a man enjoying his role as a grandfather. Billy/William narrates several stories, but many of the stories are told in the third person, allowing for human experience to be revealed from several different perspectives. Author John Isaac Jones writes with elegant simplicity, yet his narrative is rich with detail and the keen observation of the human character. Jones's easy-going and familiar story-telling voice and descriptions place the reader in the heart of each story. The stories are simply told yet contains a paradox, an irony, a heartfelt lesson in love and life. There are many stories painting the portraits of the diverse people in William's life, but the final story, GRANDFATHERS, brings the collections to a heartwarming close. William draws parallels between his experiences with his grandfather, and his experiences as a grandfather with his own grandson, and brings the collection to a satisfying and heartwarming conclusion: "Both knew instinctively that nothing could stop the eternal transition from the old to the new. The forward movement of the big wheel was an undeniable certainty. ALABAMA STORIES provides a beautifully understated and compelling glimpse into human experience. — Reviewer Maya Fleischmann for IndieReader