This is a collection of entirely readable short stories from John Howard Reid. The book begins with the title story. Micaela Morris is the protagonist in many of the stories in this collection. As a young woman Micaela ventures into the forbidden territory of Jo’s Heaven. As it turns out the heaven is anything but. More curious is the fact that there is no one called Jo. So why would it be called Jo’s Heaven? Micaela starts out one afternoon driving through endless scrub hoping to find what exists in Jo’s Heaven. Instead all she finds is miles of barren desert and scrubland where she meets an old man with a swollen leg. He has been bitten by a king brown – one of the longest and deadliest snakes found in Australia. The man is in his death throes and Micaela has no idea how to help him. The old man just wants her to be by his side as he dies. But can she nerve herself to sit tight and watch a man as he breathes his last?
This book is filled with more such intriguing tales. Wright and Wrong is a great story with a surprise ending while Changing Times is an old time tale bringing back nostalgic memories of a life gone by. Then there is the whimsical Mrs Lacey and Fan Fan the rabbit with a vocabulary of seven words.
Most of the stories in this book are set in the country town of Hedley’s Creek in Kawbury, Kentucky. Refreshing and easy to read, some of these stories have won awards and it is easy to tell why.
Book Facts
Paperback Edition
ISBN : 978 1 4303 2476 8
Published by Lulu.com
Available on Amazon.com -Price $9.95