Show Her a Flower, a Bird, a Shadow

Fiction. Hybrid Genre. Foreword Reviews 2017 Indies Finalist for Literary (Adult Fiction). Finalist and Honorable Mention in Fiction for the First Horizon Award. In this striking debut, of vivid characters and piercing situations, nothing is too insignificant for Pursell’s imagination–a wren on a branch, a hole in a sock, ginger tea–and nothing too dangerous–a girl hit by a stone, a mother and daughter struggling, a lip plump with blood. Intense insights are captured in superb concentrations of prose, with lyricism and flashes of brilliant detail applied to the small wonders of the world. In a matter of a few words, a few lines resonant as in the way of music, Pursell transports us. This dazzling collection of narratives, with its precise beauty and unsparing wisdom, is a fiercely sacred book, immense in its gifts, with a long, shimmering after-effect. SHOW HER A FLOWER, A BIRD, A SHADOW has received praise from Margot Livesey, Joan Silber, Peter Orner, Glen David Gold, Antonya Nelson, Melissa Pritchard, Tom Barbash, and Molly Giles. Second edition.