Local Souls

Set in Falls, North Carolina, the invented town Allan Gurganus returns to here, these three novellas portray a changed South of freer sexuality, looser family ties and better telecommunications, while centering on locals who chose to stay. In Fear Not, a banker's daughter searches for the child she was forced to give up at barely fifteen. In Saints Have Mothers, a popular high school valedictorian vanishes on a trip to Africa. Decoy follows the friendship of a doctor and his patient, both married men. The collection also uncovers old habits like adultery and obsession. It was Gurganus's first work in a decade.

Stephen King mentioned on Twitter that he was reading it, a post collected in a list of 22 books he recommended there.