Reaona Hemmingway

Tillie's Marbles Reaona Hemmingway

In the title story of this collection, "Tillie's Marbles," which won honors in the 2008 Kansas Voices prose competition, thirteen year old Tillie Herman struggles along with a handful of Dust Bowl survivors to escape an abandoned town. During her search for a lost key, she learns why her mother married her father and faces danger in dealing with the town bully. Other stories include: 'The Centerfold,' 'Revelation,' 'Father Ashley's Ghost,' 'Emma,' 'Sarah's Rescue,' 'Peasant Princes,' 'Winter Refuge,' 'Sanctuary at St. Thomas Abbey,' and 'A Question of Fate.' Review: "Tillie's Marbles & Other Stories by Kansas writer Reaona Hemmingway is a collection of short stories that will intrigue the reader. Where will you find a ghost, a princess, a kidnapping and a man who renounces his religious calling to marry for love and all the while you are drawn into the lives of many people during the Dust Bowl? A must read for fans of Hemmingway's other writings: 'Home for Christmas,' 'Harmony's Left Wing,' and 'The Little Shephard Girl.'" - Kathrine Fapp, Collection Development, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library