A family is devastated by information that their mother, long dead, is helping people live longer, happier lives all around the world. How can this be? Rumors spread that scientists have cloned the matriarch and that the woman they love now has duplicates of herself around Europe. Still, another suspicion is that she's been shot into space, stuffed into a bomb, and inserted with AIDS, suffering alone in some cold lab halfway around the planet. The stress of all this news cripples her children, but what is the truth?
Doctors provide her with the best treatment available, but they don't tell the woman they are stealing a portion of her body during their treatments. Those stolen cells proved extraordinarily incredible, saving people's lives worldwide, and they continue to marvel even in our day. Everyone benefits from the woman's unknowing sacrifice, except for her family and children.
Cate's quiet English neighborhood has experienced several sexual assaults, and one beautiful young girl is missing. Across from Cate's family's home, police arrest a man. Cate sighs with relief now that the local creep is off the streets. But when the attacks continue, and clues lead to her bedroom door, she must confront her prejudices and blind spots to reveal a shocking truth.
This week we're taking it back to our very first episode, featuring a book that's drowning in controversy.
In the quiet village of St. Mary Mead, in the peaceful English countryside, the unthinkable happens — a murder. What is more, this is not just any murder. The dead man is found in the local's clergyman's office, blood on the desk and a note in his atrophying hand. Did the clergyman bring an end to the life of a man he envied? Or was it one of the many country folks who openly hated the deceased? One observant spinster aims to get to the bottom of the mystery before the wrong man is hanged.
Convenience Store Woman is the deadpan tale of one woman's happy life in a simple occupation before conformity-obsessed friends, family members, and strangers pressure her into confusion and despair. Will she find her way back, or will she end up like a sandcastle, washed away by the current of conventionality? As Beyoncé said, "This is for the 30-somethings that didn't turn out exactly how mom and dad wanted you to be."
This Harlem Renaissance classic is the story of a woman too beautiful to be trusted and too innocent to be cautious. She battles nearly debilitating loneliness, floating through life unseen, despite marrying twice. At a time she least expected, she finds love and that love takes her on a journey of self-discovery to inner, untouchable liberation.
Following the story of two sisters and the generations they birthed, this week's book covers each woman's journey from the tribe of their childhood to their children's lives and their children's children in America. Each new generation has new struggles, romances, passions, and pain. In the end, the sisters' families are united, brought home to the land and the water that bore them.
How has music influenced you as a storyteller?
This week's is a wild card episode. We're discussing song lyrics and our favorite musical storytellers. We've also got a game — because you all love to put Alexis on the spot (and Kari is more than happy to oblige).
Black moments distilled into easily digestible verse, this book reminds us that literature lives outside classrooms or cringy rom-coms.
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