You Know When the Men Are Gone

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. The crucial role of military wives becomes clear in Fallon's powerful, resonant debut collection, where the women are linked by absence and a pervading fear that they'll become war widows. In the title story, a war bride from Serbia finds she can't cope with the loneliness and her outsider status, and chooses her own way out. The wife in "Inside the Break" realizes that she can't confront her husband's probable infidelity with a female soldier in Iraq; as in other stories, there's a gap between what she can imagine and what she can bear to know. In "Remission," a cancer patient waiting on the results of a crucial test is devastated by the behavior of her teenage daughter, and while the trials of adolescence are universal, this story is particularized by the unique tensions between military parents and children. One of the strongest stories, "You Survived the War, Now Survive the Homecoming," attests to the chasm separating men who can't speak about the atrocities they've experienced and their wives, who've lived with their own terrible burdens. Fallon writes with both grit and grace: her depiction of military life is enlivened by telling details, from the early morning sound of boots stomping down the stairs to the large sign that tallies automobile fatalities of troops returned from Iraq. Significant both as war stories and love stories, this collection certifies Fallon as an indisputable talent. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Review Fallon weaves together a collection of loosely connected short stories about Army families particularly the spouses living at Fort Hood, Texas. Poignant and beautifully written, Fallon s book especially excels as interpreted by narrator Cassandra Campbell. Campbell approaches each story as a self-contained piece, deftly avoiding the trap of not differentiating between stories. Each story is more moving than the last, and Campbell s narration works in concert with Fallon s masterful writing to ensure that each packs a unique emotional punch whether one listens one at a time or back-to-back. This haunting collection is sure to impress. --AudioFile Earphones Award Winner