BLACK RIVER

Clarke’s short story collection details characters and communities surrounding a river in the northeastern U.S.

Black River, running through the Adirondack Mountains, is a place the author knows well—Clarke’s grandfather founded the Dade’s Inn motel in the region in the 1930s, and his father and mother took over the business in the late 1950s and ran it until the early 1960s. The author’s focus on community is conveyed through 31 loosely connected short stories, based on his father’s tales of the “rugged backwoods” in the Black River area, all united by people who are a “robust group with character.” The stories celebrate both the remarkable and the mundane, including a bar fight begun by a Dade’s Inn regular called Harold (“Harold”), the terrifying appearance of a bear behind the Inn (“The Bear”), and an examination of local Christmas traditions (“The Magic of Christmas”). Clarke’s ability to evoke the transcendent qualities in ordinary moments is a hallmark of the collection; one of the standout stories is devoted to Clarke’s memories of churning homemade blackberry ice cream with his grandpa Dade, told so sweetly that the reader can almost taste the frozen treat: “The finest gift we can give to one another is our time.” Human connection is a central thread throughout, and descriptions of the locale affirm Clarke’s strong sense of place. His prose is simultaneously immersive and matter-of-fact (“Trying to distinguish the facts is like taking a stroll in the Hundred Acre Wood. The stories have taken on a life of their own”), drawing some of the more disparate stories together as the author jumps between people and time periods, from the Second World War to contemporary exchanges between a husband and wife. Clarke’s stories celebrate this unique area and those living in it, immortalizing the comical, the quotidian, and the extraordinary in equal measure.

An entertaining set of vignettes chronicling an endearing, close-knit community.