Blueink Review, Starred Review
Memory Plays, by Stephen Evans, is a collection of four exquisitely written stories, each a profound meditation on the interplay between love and memory.
In "At the Still Point," a pair of aging exes are re-acquainted through witty banter, laden with the subtext of what was and what could be, under the watchful eye of a broken train station clock. "Kingdom By the Sea" features a punctilious antiques dealer enlisted by a divine being/waitress to excavate old memories in an effort to assist a dearly departed friend. "Paradox" explores the unlikely romance between an ordinary teen and his brilliant-but troubled classmate, imagined partly through the lens of Arthurian legend. "The Smiles of Cheshire, Mass" introduces a young doctor assessing whether his stubborn, stoic grandfather's purported psychosis may have a more innocent, if heartbreaking, explanation.
Evans has a gift for dialogue, sculpting credible characters from their language and forging fully realized relationships through conversation. His writing is simultaneously swooningly romantic, cautiously optimistic, unselfconsciously funny, and refreshingly heartwarming. It's genuinely sweet but never cloying. His characters are witty, vulnerable, resilient, and relatable, and the plots are elegantly uncomplicated...
Some stories have had previous lives elsewhere. "The Smiles of Cheshire, Mass" has appeared before, but in much shorter form, a comparison which favors the sweep and depth of the more novella-esque version featured in Memory Plays. And although some stories might be repeated from elsewhere, they feel most at home next to each other in this collection, intimately linked as they are by tone and subject.
Evans has proven capable of producing unforgettable work and has gifted us with many deeply affecting stories. Memory Plays feels like a collection of his best, the most distilled and elemental presentation of his subtle and remarkable talents. It's a fine starting point for readers new to his work, and required reading for anyone already acquainted with his impressive previous releases.
Also available as an ebook.
Foreword Clarion Reviews
"In Stephen Evans's distinctive short story collection Memory Plays, four sets of principal characters at various crossroads cope with life-altering moments based on their past experiences.
Throughout each plotline, rich sensory details-as of a broken clock at a train station, and with references to the standard machinery found in an emergency room-paint thorough pictures of situations while also creating a stark contrast between the settings and the dialogue, which is variously playful, flirtatious, and strained...And while each tale at least hints at some kind of resolution, room is left for speculation.
Memory Plays is an introspective short story collection about the complexities of understanding the combined power of the past, the present, and the future.
