New Haven Noir (Akashic Noir)
"The Queen of Secrets" is a short story by Lisa D. Gray collected in New Haven Noir, an anthology of crime fiction set in New Haven, Connecticut. Set around Bradley Street, it draws on the shadows and tensions of a city away from its polished public image, and it received the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award.
Work Information
A short story in which a secret tucked into a corner of the city brings New Haven's darker outline into view.
New Haven Noir is an original anthology in the Akashic Noir series, edited by Amy Bloom and devoted to crime stories set in New Haven. Lisa D. Gray appears alongside contributors such as Michael Cunningham, Roxana Robinson, and Stephen L. Carter, and "The Queen of Secrets" is included in Part III, "Death or Glory." The publisher's page and the official MWA announcement identify the story as the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award winner. No Japanese edition was found; the English paperback anthology is identifiable by ISBN 9781617755415.
Review Summaries
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Critical response values the way the anthology uses New Haven's social layers and town-and-gown tensions. Its range of contributors and clear storytelling are seen as strengths, while the focus on the city's darker side gives the collection a weighty aftertaste.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Akashic Books
- Published
- 2017-07-25
- Pages
- 288 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.46 x 2.03 x 21.08 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781617755415
- ISBN-10
- 1617755419
- Price
- 3709 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Mystery/Anthologies
Lisa D. Gray's story "The Queen of Secrets" won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award! John Crowley's story "Spring Break" won the 2018 Edgar Award for Best Short Story! "In an Ivy League town, Bloom turns Yale's motto-- Lux et Veritas --on its head, finding darkness and deceit in every corner of New Haven...The stories Bloom chooses share a strong sense of place, detailing the quirks that make every corner of New Haven distinctive. But it's the lucid writing and clear, compelling storylines that make her dark tales shine. Maybe she offers a noir version of Light and Truth after all." -- Kirkus Reviews "Town-gown tensions highlight several of the 15 stories in this stellar Akashic noir anthology set in the Elm City...This [volume] is particularly strong on established authors, many of whom have impressive credentials outside the genre." -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "[It's] a kick to see Elm City haunts and issues weaved into short stories of intrigue by writers who know the turf." -- New Haven Register "Fifteen writers, many from Connecticut, including Bloom, have contributed stories to the book. Some stories are classic film noir-style, in which an unscrupulous woman leads a desirous man to his own destruction. Some tell stories of criminal youths meeting someone they underestimated, undermining their cocky street-smarts. Other stories tell of Yalies whose sophisticated exteriors hide a seething hunger for recognition. A few stories go full-on eerie, such as the shy catalog artist who is not the person he seems to be, and the unseen man in Room 11 of the Duncan Hotel, whose daily activities are a mystery to the hotel staff. Town vs. gown tensions pop up in several stories, as do dark narratives reflecting the city's history of racial tensions." -- Hartford Courant "Fifteen of New Haven's literary lights have put ink to paper (or bytes to screen?) to summon that 'noir' city of the imagination that lurks just below the rapidly gentrifying surface." -- New Haven Independent Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location with the respective city. Amy Bloom masterfully curates a star-studded cast of contributors, including Michael Cunningham, Stephen L. Carter, and Roxana Robinson, to portray the city's underbelly. Brand-new stories by: Michael Cunningham, Roxana Robinson, Stephen L. Carter, John Crowley, Amy Bloom, Alice Mattison, Chris Knopf, Jonathan Stone, Sarah Pemberton Strong, Karen E. Olson, Jessica Speart, Chandra Prasad, David Rich, Lisa D. Gray, and Hirsh Sawhney. From the introduction by Amy Bloom: New Haven may be a noir town but, even though noir usually manages not to, we have heart. The chance to bring together some of my favorite writers, in my adopted hometown (in every place I bartended, the cook or the manager carried a .38 in his waistband, and I can still make ten kinds of boilermakers), was a joy and a privilege. Every single story is a noir gem...If you are an optimist, noir may be an antidote, a crisp, dry balance for your sunny outlook. If you are a pessimist (or, as we say, a realist), noir is your home ground, your tribe. It's not just that you expect ants to come to the picnic; you know damned well that there will be ants at the picnic. When they come, you're relieved. When they crawl up your brother's leg, you're reassured and possibly delighted. But the other side of noir is the moral center. The center may be shabby, frayed, and in serious need of a facelift, but it is a center. It's not necessarily heroic. It's likely to be cynical, and its resilience is not the showy kind. Mean streets, as Raymond Chandler once said, not but mean. That's New Haven.
Amy Bloom is the author of three novels, three collections of short stories, a children’s book and a collection of essays. She has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, Tin House and numerous anthologies here and abroad. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, among many other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award for Fiction. Her best-selling novel, Away, was an epic story about a Russian immigrant. Her most recent and best-selling novel, Lucky Us, came out in 2014. She lives in Connecticut and taught at Yale University for the last decade. She is now Wesleyan University’s Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing.
Reviews
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While ordinarily not a fan of anthologies and short stories (they end too abruptly just as I'm rolling along, always leaving me wanting more. But then again, when done right it does take a particularly skilled writer to tell a tale in so few words, and maybe leaving you wondering about those characters is the point!), I've been on a 'New Haven kick' of late and really glad I decided to give this one a try. Not exactly upbeat- it is noir, after all- and while I wouldn't say all the entries fall squarely into the genre, there's great writing here by authors from whom you'll want to look for more. One story in particular, by David Rich, really fills the bill with the classic elements of a bartender and a broad but with the modernizing twist of corrupt military contractors and mercenaries standing in for the gangsters of old. (As a movie and television writer he's particularly adept at packing a big story into a small space, with some twists you wouldn't think there'd time for, but old habits die hard and I'd still love to see this one fleshed out into a novel!) A few contributions by pretentious literary/academic types that translate into pretentious literary/academic characters (Yale is a major player here), but a description of lovely old 1920's-era East Rock houses and foggy nights outside Union Station off-set them! You don't have to love, or even know, New Haven to enjoy this collection but for those who do, the references and descriptions of the city will really put you right there. An author's descriptive abilities are so important in submerging you in the story, but when those places really exist, and you so easily recognize them, all the better! When done right, the short story is the perfect format for noir. This one is definitely worth a look. In the words of author and editor Amy Bloom, 'things happen in New Haven, don't think they don't'!
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Loved that this was all about our home space- knew all the places listed in it. Knew all about it. Loved it &recommend anyone from the area read it
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Good, intriguing fictional takes on one of America's best and most interesting small cities in the shadows of Yale University.
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I have really liked some of the noir series books, and as a Yalie I saw great potential for one set in the gritty streets of New Haven, but this one fails. To be fair, I got about three or four stories in and gave up, but the writing I forced myself through seemed callow and very derivative - sort of what someone who grew up in the privilege soaked environs of a Laura Ashley themed home in Greenwich might think the noirish mean streets would be like, based on a tv show or two and the comment sections of a favorite Facebook feed. I know this series was done a while back, but it would have been a lot better if they had exercised some quality control so buying one wasn't such a total crapshoot.
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5 Stars. Ex-library copy. 5 Stars