Jagged Edge of the Sky

A free black man in London wanders too close to the docks on the wrong day.A woman gives birth alone in a barn loft near an Australian outback crossroads.A mother removes her apron, walks away from her family, and tells her secrets only once.  In Paula Marie Coomer's Jagged Edge of the Sky connections of blood and circumstance emerge from a kaleidoscopic narrative in which these and other characters navigate rugged personal terrains of loss and hope. The resulting literary landscape is spare and challenging as the Australian outback, mythical as the American West. With a relentless eye, Paula Marie Coomer flinches from neither the gruesome nor the humorous in this fractured tale of loners, siblings, parents, and lovers. ". . . intriguing, complicated . . . A lusty, tragic tale for readers who are willing to work for its satisfying moments of connection."   ---Kirkus Reviews