They Always Wave Goodbye by Katie Sherman

Katie Sherman‘s beautiful, powerful stories explore themes of motherhood, memory, and broken bonds.  I will long remember “Hook Wounds” for its deeply moving evocation of elephants’ grief and mystery. This is a masterful debut collection.

–Cary Holladay, author of Brides in the Sky: Stories and a Novella

With the arrival of her superb debut collection, Katie Piccirillo Sherman has established herself as one of the freshest new voices in American short fiction. Bravo!
–T.D. Johnston, winner of the International Book Award for FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND OTHER STORIES, and Editor of Short Story America

Katie Sherman‘s finely wrought first collection, They Always Wave Goodbye, is a deep and insightful look at motherhood written in piercing prose that mines “the secrets no one will share.” But Sherman does share for her readers “the pain and pleasure so intertwined you can’t distinguish one from the other” in these stories about heartbreak, horrific loss, and the bonds of love that can’t be broken between a mother and child. Ultimately, though, Sherman uses the lens of motherhood to examine how we all suffer loss and celebrate love. An impressive debut.

–Marlin Barton, author of Children of Dust and Pasture Art

They Always Wave Goodbye and Other Stories is a collection filled with harrowing beauty and tender wisdom. From young children who must parent their parents in “The Fairy House,” to a mother who learns that loving is the hardest thing in “The Easiest Thing,” these emotionally intelligent stories resonate long after reading. Continuing the tension-taut theme of familial relationships, in the haunting title story, a West-Virginia-born daughter returns home from her new life in Chicago to watch her brilliant father disappear to dementia one memory at a time. Be advised that these stories are not highlights; the collection itself is the highlight, proving that even the hard times can hearten us. Katie Piccirillo Sherman is a storyteller to watch!

–Rhonda Browning White, author of The Lightness of Water