Now You See It . . .: Stories from Cokesville, PA

Now You See It . . .: Stories from Cokesville, PA is set in a coal and steel region of Pennsylvania, where industrial work defines daily life. In seventeen linked stories spanning forty-five years, Bathsheba Monk portrays the residents of this corner of America. The collection features memorable characters including Mrs. Szilborski, who bakes cakes but sprays her neighbors' dogs with mace, and Mrs. Wojic, who believes her husband was reincarnated as one of those dogs. Younger characters like Annie Kusiak, who wants to write, and Theresa Gojuk, who dreams of stardom, struggle with their desire to leave town and escape the weight of family history and parental regret. When Theresa's father Bruno falls into a vat of molten steel at the mill, the company gives the family an ingot roughly his weight to bury. The stories capture a world that is both surprising and recognizable, bringing to life the interconnected lives of Cokesville's inhabitants across nearly half a century.