A Solitary Wife and Other Stories (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781977264473)

Author Lloyd Lim's second collection of nine short stories spans multiple genres, including crime noir, science fiction, romance and tales about ordinary people. The tone runs the gamut from the tragic to the comic. Mr. Lim has created plots of greater complexity and character development than were present in his first collection, but he continues to demonstrate his adherence to Shakespeare's quip from Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark Act 2, Scene 2 that "brevity is the soul of wit."

The story protagonists include: a cop tracking down a serial killer while harboring feelings for his partner; an assistant pastor investigating his daughter's death; a young man with a bad attitude; an elderly woman who escapes her retirement facility; a lonely wife with a powerful husband; a private investigator who meets a woman who draws him into a conspiracy with long tentacles; a man in the 22nd century who must propose to a much younger woman with whom he has been paired by a computer; a man with a cockamamie business idea.

Mr. Lim has also included a brief, one-act play ideal for a student production on a shoestring budget. The play deals with the perennial issue of the artist versus the art object and the sacrifices one may be forced to make for an artistic life.

Finally, because we find ourselves in a hyper-partisan time, Mr. Lim has included some simple ideas for understanding the basis for the partisan divide and for navigating and rising above it.

Mr. Lim has taken his study of literature and film to fashion stories with both literary and cinematic aspects. In fact, one short story was adapted from a previously written screenplay. Mr. Lim writes in both first- and third- person narrative styles; he believes that thinking like an actor can help develop the dramatic aspects of literary fiction. His test for a protagonist? Would an actor badly want to play this part?

This collection should appeal to a broad range of readers, from young adults to seniors. It is accessible to those with a range of educational backgrounds and doesn't preach only to those with a specific set of political or social values. If a film rating were attached to these stories, it would go no higher than PG-13. The stories vary in length, but none are so long that they would burden busy professionals.