The Phototropic Woman

"Thomas' stories …blend a comic and irreverent wit with an odd archaic diction, something like a marriage of Frank O'Connor and Flannery O'Connor, with a touch of Sherwood Anderson."—Washington Post

"The stories are written with a deceptive simplicity and clarity of style."—Library Journal

"In nearly every piece, there is a conflict arising from limits. And there is a wildness that she makes preternatural and larger than human, uncontrollable, as in the [story] "Twister," which takes the farm but not the child beside it. Saying all this, pinning her incredible complex tales to some thematic category is, of course, simple-minded of me. For what is most evident here beside Thomas' unique gift as a storyteller and aside from the distinctive textures of the stories, what is evident is her faith in the strength of the human character…The Phototropic Woman is …the best new collection of stories I have seen in years."—National Public Radio