THE DIVIDE

Troubled relationships and awkward encounters abound in these stories set in the Mountain West.

Williams’ stories explore familiar bonds curdling into something unrecognizable and regrets that span decades. “The Hiding Place,” about a couple helping their college-age daughter move, takes a turn as the husband thinks back fondly on a relationship he had prior to meeting his wife—even though its success would have meant a wildly different life for him. Several of these stories include sudden, unexpected liaisons: In “Down the Mountain,” it’s between two mountain climbers from different countries, while in “There Is No Leslie Forever,” it’s between a man and the woman who just woke up on his roommate’s bed. Williams also makes interesting use of offscreen violence: the stoned conversations in “Soft and Warm Against Me” take on a different context when we learn that it’s the anniversary of the narrator’s sister’s murder. Opener “Egg and Dart,” named for the restaurant where it’s set, is the most mysterious work here, encompassing an increasingly hostile conversation between a waiter and a would-be diner. It lets Williams use some of the most lyrical prose found in the book: “A two-chambered flute, or a drum with a soft buckskin mallet, a jingle wadded in his fist, his barrel voice warm and low.” Some of the author’s stylistic approaches are more successful than others. The form of “Buena Vista,” which is divided into sections and spread throughout the book, creates some tension. But the plot, of a man considering infidelity and struggling with whether or not he has “a free pass” to do so, could have been just as effective if told in one installment.

A collection of memorable character studies with a good sense of presence—and absence.