NEW from the Author. . .
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To the Next Home Run A Novel in Short Stories
The Curse of the Bambino hovers above the Red Sox quest for their Impossible Dream, both of which parallel the stories of six families and the priest who touches them all.
We are drawn into the connective tissue of a city suffering racial unrest, prejudice, economic upheaval, and diocesan scandal during the nineteen-seventies and -eighties–– through characters as disparate as a Boston Brahmin and an MBTA token collector, a police detective and a mobster, a nurse and a murderer, and more; we sit with them in bars, in churches, and at bedsides, watching them stumble, fall, rise, and stumble again. . .until the final reveal.
Like the spirit of Babe Ruth, the all-too-human Father Frank watches over the denizens of the city, invoking the Babe’s favorite philosophy: Every strike brings you closer to the next home run.
“Following her delightful debut collection of short stories, For All The Right Seasons, Boston-bred Jayne Adams jogs onto the field and hits another one out of the park with her debut novel, To The Next Home Run.
In this ‘wicked delicious’ story, she gives us a panoramic view of Boston’s neighborhoods back in the day. Adams delights us with her characters, bringing us into the lives of people paying the price for and striking bargains with the baggage of the past. Its ending is as satisfying as a heaping plate of fried clams and a cold pale ale. But––trust me here––as it draws to a close like the inevitable end of the MLB season in October, you’ll be looking for her next one on the shelves of your favorite bookstore.”
––John W. MacIlroy, award-winning author of Whatever Happens, Probably Will and other books
For All the Right Seasons A Short Story Collection
Twenty-three short stories arranged by season, the collection’s theme is announced by an Arthur Rubinstein quote: “The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other.”
WINTER : Steinbeck observes that only through winter’s cold can we savor summer’s warmth. Its five stories not only occur in that solstice, but are cold, spare, and wistful.
SPRING: Roethke’s quote on light and flowers sets the tone. Its five stories not only take place in the sweet, warm months of the Vernal Equinox, but also offer epiphanies and glimmers of hope.
SUMMER: Introduced by a William Carlos Williams quote, its song is sometimes sweet, often bittersweet. Its six stories offer deeper colors, fuller blooms, and broader explorations of the human condition.
FALL: This section picks up the pace, becoming more dramatic, more foreboding as Humbert Wolfe warns: “The wind is rising…now for October eves.” The last of its six stories provides a breath of comic relief before we dive into the Finale:
…the twenty-third story, A LIFE IN FOUR SEASONS. Sun-Tzu reminds us in the sectional epigraph that the seasons “end but to begin anew.” This tale, narrated by ten different voices in turn, describes the arc of a man’s life. Not until the final voice speaks is the outcome revealed.
"Jayne Adams's All the Right Seasons is as fine a debut collection of short stories as you will find. Each of her tales carries a poignancy that delivers a lasting singular effect on the reader, and I love the delivery of stories in a seasonal progression. That is the kind of link that creates the common bond between author and reader that I relish when I become a fan of a fellow short-story writer... count me as a big fan of Jayne Adams!”
––T.D. Johnston, winner of the International Book Award for Best Fiction for Friday Afternoon,
Publisher of Short Story America series of anthologies, Author of Reciprocity and other books