The Franklin Avenue Rookery for Wayward Babies

Newman’s vivid collection of three novellas set in the western desert and the social climate of the early 1960s through 2000 features diverse characters navigating wide-ranging upheaval, internal conflicts, and connections formed in unexpected places. In the mesmerizing title tale, Julia, a college student, picks up hitchhiker Howi in the Nevada desert. The two fall in love and soon welcome lively daughter Nia, building their home on the reservation where Nia grows up alongside her beloved best friend. After a devastating accident, they must confront heartache alongside difficult choices that will determine the way forward. The tender “City of Angels” charts the unusual friendship between art student Simone and Lenni, a Vietnam war vet affected by PTSD. "The Saints of Death Valley” follows Grace, who is experiencing a crisis of faith as she comes into young adulthood, and the family that welcomes her into their desert home, including the overlooked middle child, Remi, at the threshold of her own teenage predicaments. In exquisite prose, Newman opens up worlds and weaves palpable gravity, humor, and tenderness into her characters’ struggles.

“Laura Newman aims this dazzling collection of stories straight at us, straight from the heart. By turns wry, madcap and tragic, we are in the hands of an intrepid storyteller. These generous talkies are an antidote — maybe even healing — for times we feel mired in our own hear and now. A work of boundless imagination, we’re lifted out of ourselves and into the wondrous world of others.”

“Newman excels at succinctly providing her characters with rich histories and surprising, well-executed turns….She can be inventive with form and creative with plotting. There are moments of tenderness and insight…skillful storytelling.”

“Laura Newman’s stories are a sensual delight. Treat yourself to atmosphere, humor, and voice, voice, voice.”

“Newman fills her quirky collection (after Parallel to Paradise) with moments of connection as protagonists grapple with loss and longing. “Swisher Sweets” follows an unnamed narrator dealing with her ex-husband’s sudden death. Though the narrator and her husband had been divorced for years, she keeps his prosthetic, tattooed arm since the crematorium wouldn’t incinerate it. “The House of Naan and Saffron” follows a boy who leaves his small Norwegian village for India. Kris is 13 when his mother, Livinia, is nearly killed in an accident involving a box of ammunition dropped into a fireplace, and is saved by her lover, who dies in her arms. After that experience, Kris’s preacher father uproots the family to Varanasi, where more tragedy awaits. In the New Orleans–set title story, 10-year-old Katrina is named after the 2005 storm: she was born in the Superdome during the flood. She’s used to being cared for by her teenage brothers, but after their mother dies, they take her to a Catholic orphanage. There, Katrina spies on the sisters at night, watching one of them dress up like Madonna, and learns a number of fascinating, heartbreaking things about her family. With candor, wry wit and memorable details, these stories shimmer.”

“Newman's intricate short story collection explores the layers of her characters' diverse lives and fates. Spanning continents and times, and set within significant historical contexts, the 10 tales highlight extraordinary moments as characters navigate their boundaries between one state and the next, as well as their connections to others. In "Swisher Sweets," a mother must deal with the fallout after the sudden death of her ex-husband prior to their daughter's wedding, opening up recollections of the past. The nuanced "Tourette's of the Heart" weaves together the adolescent journeys of Dorje, born in 1940s Tibet, and Maggie, born in 1960s Miami. Dorje's family struggles for survival after the 1959 Tibetan uprising while Maggie's family is forever haunted by an unimaginable accident. The memorable coming-of-age title tale follows young Katrina as she is sent to a New Orleans' orphanage after her mother unexpectedly dies; Newman slowly reveals the truth about Katrina's background and the lives of those around her. Woven with distinction and depth, Newman's stories confront the reality of life and its many wounds as well as the dangers of memory.”

“The Franklin Avenue Rookery for Wayward Babies is widely expansive in its reach through space, time, and perspective, all of it charged with empathy and a zingy chord of humor. These stories help us see the world afresh; they remind us we can find deep connection in the most unexpected places, in the most surprising ways. Laura Newman’s sweeping imagination, quirky wit, and singular charm add up to an invigorating, unforgettable read.”