"The Sound of Rabbits is a deeply affecting and powerful novel." —Lynn Sloan, author of Midstream, Principles of Navigation, and This Far Isn’t Far Enough 
The Sound of Rabbits tells the story of Ruby, a bright woman with a love of music who thought that leaving the small town where she grew up would ensure her happiness. But her life in Chicago is not going the way she’d planned. At 41, she’s drifted away from music, and a long-term relationship with a boyfriend has ended badly. Everything changes with one phone call from her sister, Val, who cares for their mother, Barbara, in the hardscrabble Midwestern town where Ruby grew up. Ruby returns to confront some harsh truths about her family and herself as she tries to find meaning in her mother’s battle with Parkinson’s disease. Written as an homage to the classic archetype of the Hero’s Journey, The Sound of Rabbits relies on different points of view to explore themes of change and death, and considers the role that the past—and acceptance of that past—can play in one’s current and future happiness.

The Sound of Rabbits

Literature & Fiction

Deal, Janice

Genre Fiction

Regal House Publishing

In Janice Deal's linked story collection STRANGE ATTRACTORS, everyday people navigate the uncertainties of life in the American heartland, seeking order in chaos with a very human mix of resilience and folly. At first glance, the fictional Ephrem, Illinois, seems a friendly, familiar town: it draws you right in, even if you don't need supplies at the mall or a snack at Brat Station. But as you come closer, you discover people who are complex and unpredictable. Life itself is capricious, and loneliness can turn a person strange. Past traumas linger. Illness sometimes falls like a hammer. Yet there's much affection here, small and large examples of human kindness. For years, Janice Deal has been publishing these award-winning stories about Ephrem. Now assembled for the first time, these extraordinary tales offer a masterful snapshot of life in today's small-town America.

Strange Attractors: The Ephrem Stories

United States

New Door Books

Fiction. The characters of THE DECLINE OF PIGEONS chart a similar course, yet in their isolation they are singular creatures. Facing loss, these lonely people journey away from places they no longer belong and to places they aren't sure to recognize. Yet in a landscape irrevocably altered by disappointment, Janice Deal has laid markers—flag-draped bay windows, diseased phlox plants, and half-filled baby pools—to guide them. A repo man tries to reclaim his own goodness. A married twenty-something amputee tests new bounds. Rivalrous sisters confront their father's death. These characters, flawed yet hopeful, exhibit the bravery that profound loss demands; even as they make choices that might damn then, they are magnificent in their potential to break free.

The Decline of Pigeons

Contemporary

Queen's Ferry Press

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Books by Deal, Janice