In this wonderful collection of award winning stories Peter Ohren continues to explore the lives of the characters he brought us in his second novel How It Is With Miracles (iUniverse, 2005). The stories, set in the struggling farming community of Deckerville, expose the dreams and disappointments of the people there. The author has a sympathetic grasp of the pathos of small town folk trying to cope with modern life: global competition, failing farms, love and loss, and the struggle with faith. In reading about his farmers, clerks, mechanics, shop owners and parish priests one has the feeling of an entire way of life coming into view, a way of life that may well be on the verge of extinction.
These are people we know, our neighbors and friends. These are people whose joys and sorrows we can identify with and share. Deckerville is a must read book.
