Later at the Bar

Rebecca Barry's collection of linked short stories all revolve around Lucy's Tavern, a bar in a small town in upstate New York. Different regulars take turns taking center stage--twin brothers Harlin and Cyrus, their ex-wives, advice columnist Linda, and many others. Everyone has connections to everyone else, in that particular small town way, and those ties run so deep that divorce and jail and changes of scenery do not seem to break them. Barry's characters may drink too much, but their greatest sin is also their greatest strength--they also love too much. They go on failing and forgiving each other, for, as one character says to her husband, "It's not the disappointment that gets me with you...it's the hope."