Onlookers

Onlookers is a collection of extraordinary stories about people living in the same Southern town whose lives intersect in surprising ways.

Peaceful Charlottesville, Virginia, drew national attention when white nationalists held a rally there in 2017, a horrific event whose repercussions are still felt today.

Confederate monuments such as General Robert E. Lee atop his horse were then still standing.

The statues are a constant presence and a metaphoric refrain throughout this collection, though they represent different things to different characters.

Some landmarks may have faded from consciousness but provoke fresh outrage when viewed through newly opened eyes.

In “Nearby,” an elderly man and his younger wife watch from their penthouse as protestors gather to oppose the once “heroic” explorers Lewis and Clark depicted towering over their native guide, Sacagawea.

A lawyer in “In the Great Southern Tradition” deals with a crisis on Richmond’s Monument Avenue, while his sister and nephew plant tulip bulbs at her stately home.

These are stories of unexpected relationships that affirm the value of friendship, even when it requires difficult compromises or unexpected risks.