“The Gentlemen of Verona: 20 Stories for Grownups” (Gilberte Publishing 2024) by Marina Brown is a brilliant collection of short stories that once again demonstrate Brown’s enormous range of themes and styles.
The stories are full of magical realism elements, heartbreaking pathos, occasional parodies of famous people and surprise endings that O. Henry – or Kafka – would be proud of.
“The Gentlemen of Verona” will be presented at the Midtown Reader on Thursday, August 15 at 6:30 p.m., where Brown will read from the book and invite everyone to enjoy refreshments and entertainment. She will present at L3X programs at the Senior Center on September 25 and at My Favorite Books on September 12. “The Gentlemen of Verona” is available online.
Sylvan Langer of Sentinel Books in London writes: “Brown is an author who writes like a painter and thinks like a philosopher, and whose stories become touchstones that you will return to again and again.”
The Gentlemen of Verona is a collection of twenty stories divided into four sections: When You Think You Know Best, Decisions in the Dark, I Did It My Way, and Denouements. Several stories appeared in her previous gold medal-winning collection When Women Danced with Trees.
In this book, we watch Brown wryly explain how hubris, pride and complacency can bring “just punishment.” But there are other stories in which the characters learn that love is common to all of us – even potatoes – and that devotion can “change beings” and give them a voice – literally.
The first story in this riveting volume, “In Theory,” concerns a wealthy couple, Arnold and Bernice, who leave town to spend the summer “whizzing around the lake on jet skis, taking ‘champagne hikes’ into the rolling hills that surround their elite enclave, and Photoshopping pictures of themselves with the magnificent mountains stretching in arches behind them.”
When Arnold notices how high the lake’s water is this year, he dismisses climate change theories. But just as he and Bernice prepare to throw a party, it starts raining again and the house begins to shake ominously. The power goes out. Helicopters hover overhead. And then – well, you’ll have to read the story for yourself to find out the surprise ending. Brown delivers a message in this story without ever stooping to preaching, but this story clearly belongs in the section ironically titled “When You Think You Know Best.”
Not only the endings, but also some of the locations are a surprise. “Saint Tibs” takes place in heaven, where Tibs takes part in a roll call with other inhabitants such as Saint Francis, Saint Peter and Saint John. He feels “out of his league” because, as he admits, the whole “saint thing was a mistake.”
Sometimes what was considered a miracle was actually the result of the pranks for which Tibs was famous. The story tells of several misunderstood incidents that were later claimed to be miracles. To his surprise, Tibs learns that many of the revered saints are themselves pranksters. Mother Teresa herself invites him to join in on a little political prank – which Tibs may not find so funny, given the chaos that is likely to befall humanity – but perhaps there will be some snickering in heaven.
Other ingenious stories involve a tattered but still treasured lost baseball cap, the hunt for the perfect dessert plates, a writer desperate for new ideas, newfound love on a plane full of bugs, talkative and oddly gifted cats, a surreal emergency room visit, and a woman looking for love rather than riches in a third marriage – all of which become fascinating subjects in Brown’s creative hands.
The fresh and breezy style makes it perfect for a summer trip to the beach or a relaxing afternoon on a deck chair. And yet, says Susan Ellen Gross, author of The Midnight Fury and other books, “This is an example of a page-turner short story. Hold on tight, you’re in for a wild ride.”
Brown has written for newspapers and magazines over the past 20 years, including The St. Petersburg Times, The Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee Magazine, Florida Design, Dance and Sailing Magazine.
She has received numerous awards, including first places in the Porter Fleming Short Story Contest, the Red Hills Review, the Lorian Hemmingway Short Story Awards, and gold medals for her novels from the Florida Writers Association and the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. Her works include the Florida Writers Association’s 2020 Book of the Year, The Orphan of Pitigliano, Lizbeth, When Women Danced with Trees, and Land Without Mirrors.
Reviewer Donna Meredith, editor of the Southern Literary Review, is the author of Margaret: the Rose of Goodwood and other books.
When you go
What: Book launch for Marina Brown’s “The Gentlemen of Verona”
Where: Midtown Reader, 1123 Thomasville Road
When: Brown will read from the book at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, August 15; refreshments will be provided. She will present at L3X programs in the Senior Center on September 25 and at My Favorite Books on September 12. “The Gentlemen of Verona” is available online.
