The Snow Bridge and Other Stories

Summary

The settings of the stories in The Snow Bridge and Other Stories are drawn from a life spent in many countries. Several focus intently on a particular relationship: that between a husband and wife, mother and daughter, brothers, friends, partners, climbing-buddies, employer and employee; the relationship with an inner self; putative relationships that never quite begin, and relationships with a location, or the inhabitants of a small town. Other stories explore the long-term expatriate’s dilemma of engaging with a place not his or her own at the price of diminishing intimacy with the country of his or her birth. Described in Philip Chatting’s, ‘Author’s Introduction’, as, “entertainment”, the impact of the collection may prompt readers to reflect on the nature of their own relationships and the place we each occupy in our own worlds.“Philip Chatting is a master stylist…. He invests himself in the traumatic conflict, character identification, and ethical complication that sit at the heart of the heart of necessary and affecting social fiction.”--Jason S Polley (from his 'Advance Response' to 'The Snow Bridge and Other Stories')“The range of locations and…variety of characters…rarely come together in a single volume…. A unique collection reflecting the author’s varied history and his interests in the countries and cultures of the people among whom he has lived and travelled. It will appeal to those who share or would like to share similar experiences, as well as those who are curious to know about them.”--Mike Rowse (from his 'Preface' to 'The Snow Bridge and Other Stories')