Getting to Angel Island

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Depicting the intricate dance between and among lovers, family members, warriors, and co-workers, these stories range over the entire topography of human relationships. In settings as varied as the sea, a newsroom, the Atlantic City boardwalk, and a college campus, the men and women in these tales reach out to one another in their own peculiar ways, yet all the while seek to stay true to their hopes and dreams. As in the title story, "Getting to Angel Island," in which a middle-aged dad tries desperately to build a bridge to his teenage daughter while on an excursion boat in San Francisco Bay, the protagonists in these dozen stories strive to be strong, even as they recognize their own vulnerabilities - and those of others. It's that recognition that connects the characters in a way that Henry James may have had in mind when he wrote, "We work in the dark. We do what we can. We give what we have." Dale Fetherling's characters -whether allies or enemies, friends or rivals - press against life's limit and find the struggle reveals both the strengths and their shortcomings.