What Gets into Us: Stories

In What Gets Into Us, the new collection of short stories by Moira Crone, a curious child discovers that some believe "the gods who made this world didn't make it right, and they are terribly sorry about it." A nine-year-old girl is the only one who realizes that her mother's mental illness has put the family's survival at stake. A shy African American woman confronts evil directly in a terrifying act of love. A teenage orphan replaces a wayward son in a privileged but unhappy family. A young carpenter decides that if his baby is going to be born right, he will have to commit a crime and build the world anew.

Fayton, North Carolina, is a rural town in which everyone knows everyone else's business. Crone explores this fictional landscape and its inhabitants from many angles. The stories follow the lives of men and women who grew up together in Fayton. Full of memorable characters from several generations, this story cycle evolves into a chronicle of a region and its characters. Through it, Crone meditates on the mix of history and spirit that shapes souls and creates community.

From the perspectives of its various protagonists—white and black, male and female, young and old—we watch as Fayton comes to deal with the charged issues of race, feminism, southern traditions, and the unforeseen changes wrought by economics and technology. What Gets Into Us is a powerful story cycle that resonates as deeply as a classic novel.

Moira Crone is the author of the novel Period of Confinement and two collections of short stories. Four of her stories have appeared in New Stories from the South: The Year's Best. This collection includes her novella, "The Ice Garden," which won the 2004 William Faulkner/Wisdom Prize.