Winner of the 2010 Cervená Barva Press Fiction Contest, Judged by Dorothy Freudenthal

A collection of three award-winning short stories, taking place in Paris, Florence and Berkeley.

Paris Blues Redux

An American writer’s chance encounter with a French composer sheds unexpected light on her research into the Nazi Occupation.

The Art Critic

With awe and dread, a young art historian meets a world-famous art critic in Florence.

Holiday

A dark Thanksgiving story with a happy ending

Endorsements

“Joan Gelfand is at her best in her new collection of short stories. They’re quirky, original, and highly entertaining with surprising dark moments that will take your breath away.”
– Mary Mackey Author of The Widow’s War

“EAT WRITE LOVE. Joan Gelfand whisks us, briefly, to Paris, where the present meets the past in both its ugliness and its grace, to Florence, where art meets its cruelest friend, “art criticism,” to a more anonymous if earthier place in our own land where families and lovers pass and balance, for a moment, on the pinnacle of Thanksgiving. Her stories, like her poetry, celebrate life and love, family, friendship, art – a scrumptious meal, and an intoxicating bottle of wine! (Warning: Do NOT read these stories on an empty stomach.)”

– Christopher Bernard, author of A Spy in the Ruins, cofounder of Caveat Lector

“Joan Gelfand’s stories are engaging and passionate, filled with questions about how to hold onto one’s artistic and personal integrity in the face of others’ power or prejudice.  Gelfand creates characters with humor, sensitivity, and insight, who face the often dangerous secrets of the present and the past with courage and a refreshing intelligence. ”

– Harriet Scott Chessman, author of Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper, Someone Not Really Her Mother and other works

“Complex, thoughtful and thought-provoking, Joan Gelfand’s stories celebrate outsiders finding their way in and insiders looking for a way out, evoking ghosts or putting them to rest, traveling worlds where everything is foreign, yet surprisingly familiar, all in search of “that simply magical place we touch for only a moment.”*

– Tom Parker, New York Times bestselling author of Anna Ann Annie

Additional Reviews are listed here on Amazon.

$7.00 | ISBN: 978-0-9831041-0-0 | 52 Pages

Order online at http://www.thelostbookshelf.com/cervenabooks.html or http://www.amazon.com/Here-Abroad-Joan-Gelfand/dp/0983104107/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1322858717&sr=8-3