First Fiction Fridays: Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You

What:Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You (ARP Books, 2016)Who:Jill Sexsmith’s work has appeared in anthologies and magazines such as The Fiddlehead and PRISM International. In 2013, The Walrus named her an exciting new voice in Canadian fiction. In 2014, she won the Writers’ Union of Canada short prose competition. Jill has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Why you need to read this now:If you’re intrigued by the bizarre world of relationships, and the circumstances that make human interactions the strangest of landscapes, you will delight in this book. Perhaps you also enjoy a dose of the surreal? Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You is a combination of magic realism and sharply observed characters that will take you to a very special place where the two are artfully mingled. In these stories we enter into a series of off-kilter backdrops; from a cyclical red desert, to the dysfunctional rooms of a child prodigy, to an around-the-world chase of a mother-daughter duo, to an isolated suburban home, you will enter familiar and unfamiliar spaces in totally unexpected ways. The collection’s title says it all: Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You is populated by people who are striving to make sense of themselves in relation to the people around them, striving for connection, for departure, and emotional survival—and very often failing miserably!  Did we mention that this collection is also cuttingly funny? You don’t need to take our word for it. You can read one witty and riveting story on The Walrus.Here’s what other people are saying about the book:“Jill Sexsmith’s imagination goes where no imagination has gone before. Sexsmith’s story collection Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You breaks all the shackles and runs free with its heart in its fist. Sure-footed, really funny, poignant and wise. Here is the love-child collection of George Saunders and Joy Williams. Move over Miranda July, there’s a new voice in town.” —Lisa Moore, award-winning author of Alligator and February* * *Thank you to ARP Books, especially Irene Bindi, for sharing this wonderful (and beautiful) collection of stories with us! If you love reading short stories, check out our Short Story Month promotion with our friends at Found Press.