This is a slim book but packed with wonderful words. Mr. Barnes lost his wife of 30 years and writes really well about grief. (It made me think of the best book I ever read about depression, Wm. Styron’s Darkness Visible.) The book begins with sort of a history of hot air balloons. His premise is when two things are put together that were never before combined, something wonderful sometimes happens. Balloons & photography is his first combination. The second is an imagined love affair between Sarah Bernhardt and Fred Burnaby, an adventurer. The third combination is, of course, his marriage and the sorrow he experienced at his wife’s death. And a primer on what people say (and should not say) to someone in mourning. Recommended.
Also started a book of short stories by Victoria Redel, Make Me Do Things. The first story was about a woman approached to be part of a threesome. I think the rest of the stories will be along the same line, a little off the straight and narrow most of us follow.