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Marriages and Other Dilemmas, by Kitty Beer, balances 16 short stories with a 50 page memoir. With heroines of every age, the stories are dynamic, dark, sexy, and humorous, and the frank and open memoir adds insight to the experience. In the stories, she explores consequential events in the lives of ordinary people, revealing her love for life and the idiosyncrasies that make life profoundly interesting. Crisp writing and a jaunty tone take the reader on a journey to the outer edges of desire, love and revenge. In her memoir, Beer takes an honest and insightful look back on her life, filled with "mistakes, thrills, fears, bliss, and delusion," overcoming the grief of misfortune with good nature and resoluteness. While Beer's trio of thriller novels reflect on her passion for the environment, Marriages and Other Dilemmas skillfully reflects on her personal life and observations of the world around her.
About the author
Kitty Beer grew up in New England and raised her two children in Canada, Germany, and upstate New York. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University, and her M.A. from Cornell University. Beer's stories and articles, including her work as an environmental journalist, have appeared in print and online in the U.S. and Canada. The story "Mrs. Professor Bostwick" was nominated for the 2021 Pushcart Prize. Beer's series of novels about climate change, titled Resilience: A Trilogy of Climate Chaos, reflects an emphasis on the courage of overcoming disaster. The novels in the trilogy are What Love Can't Do (2006), Human Scale (2010) and The Hampshire Project (2017). Beer is an active member of the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, where she studies a wide variety of subjects. She's a member of the Unitarian Church, the National Writers Union and the Society of Environmental Journalists. She has traveled extensively in Europe, living mostly in London, Paris, and Munich. She speaks French and German and conversational Italian. She is loving and tolerant, but likes to speak truth to power.
