The Words of Dr. L: & Other Stories

National Book Award finalist Karen E. Bender returns with a short story collection that explores the surreal situation of parents and children separating at different ages through a realistic and speculative lens––from adolescence to empty nest to caring for an aging parent

The Words of Dr. L is National Book Award Finalist’s Karen E. Bender’s third story collection. Bender uses both a realistic and a speculative lens to explore a universal situation—the ways parents and children separate at different times of life. Grounded in both contemporary America and a variety of dystopias, the stories look at adolescence, motherhood, the empty nest, and caring for the aging parent. From a young woman who wants to learn secret words to prevent a pregnancy, to a mother who discovers an extra child in her home she has forgotten about, to a couple separated from their son in globes orbiting the Earth, the stories honor the emotional force of these situations by grappling with the themes of freedom, self-definition, youth, aging, control, and power. Bender’s work explores the ordinary in the extraordinary, using settings both familiar and speculative to discover new truths in the lifelong connection between parents and their children. View Less