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.

Show Her A Flower, A Bird, A Shadow

Literature & Fiction

Pursell, Peg Alford

United States

WTAW Press

Fiction. What a pleasure to read SHOW HER A FLOWER, A BIRD, A SHADOW. In story after story Peg Alford Pursell creates vivid characters and piercing situations. Nothing is too small for her 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. In a matter of a few words, a few lines, Pursell transports us into vivid situations of loss and longing. This is a dazzling and lovely collection.

Show Her a Flower a Bird a Shadow

ELJ Editions

Following her acclaimed debut, Show Her a Flower, A Bird, A Shadow, award-winning author Peg Alford Pursell explores and illuminates love and loss in 78 hybrid stories and fables. A Girl Goes into the Forest immerses readers in the complex desires, contradictions, and sorrows of daughters, wives, and husbands, artists, siblings, and mothers. 
 In forests literal and metaphorical, the characters try, fail, and try again to see the world, to hear each other, and to speak the truth of their longings. Powerful, lyrical, and precise, Pursell’s stories call up a world at once mysterious and recognizable. 
 A Girl Goes into the Forest invites fans of Lydia Davis and Helen Oyeyemi into a world where “no one can deter a person from her mistakes.”

A Girl Goes Into the Forest

Dzanc Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Pursell, Peg Alford. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Pursell, Peg Alford

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Pursell, Peg Alford. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Show Her A Flower, A Bird, A Shadow

Show Her a Flower a Bird a Shadow

A Girl Goes Into the Forest