Description

A masterful new collection of interconnected stories from the renowned National Book Awardwinning author

In Natural History Andrea Barrett completes the beautiful arc of intertwined lives of a family of scientists teachers and innovators that she has been weaving through multiple books since her National Book Awardwinning collection Ship Fever The six exquisite stories in Natural History are set largely in a small community in central New York state and portray some of her most beloved characters spanning the decades between the Civil War to the present day In Henrietta and Her Moths a woman tends to an insect nursery as her sisters life follows a different path In Open House a young man grapples with a choice between a thrilling life spent discovering fossils and a desire to remain close to home And in the magnificent title novella Natural History Barrett deepens the connection between her characters bringing us through to the present day and providing an unforgettable capstone

Told with Barretts characteristic elegance passion for science and wonderful eye for the natural world the psychologically astute and moving stories gathered in this collection evoke the ways womens lives and expectationsin families in work and in lovehave shifted across a century and more