Points of the Compass

By Jennifer Sullivan

Points of the Compass is a collection of twelve short stories which take place around the globe, from Irkutsk, Siberia to the Atacama Desert of Chile. The stories revolve around the complex relationships which exist within a family or develop among strangers confronting existential challenges . In "Scarlet Robes," a Buddhist monk implores two retired school teachers to smuggle his political-activist sister out of Tibet. His sister faces death if caught by the Chinese police, the school teachers face imprisonment if discovered sneaking a wanted person out of the country. In "A Grain of Sand," an evolutionary biologist on sabbatical in the Galapagos Islands meets an intriguing young woman. Fixated on her struggle to gain tenure, she confides in him but inadvertently leads him to a lost love. In "The Crossing," a young woman is mugged in Nairobi on her way to a rendezvous and, instead of a romantic dinner, spends her evening with the case detective. He is understaffed and overwhelmed, a situation that serendipitously makes their meeting almost worthwhile. In "Chain of Command," three young women set off from L.A. in a Chinese junk--one of them the inexperienced "captain"--to sail to Ensenada. Extreme events in the Pacific Ocean confront them and significantly test their ability to survive. In "Land of Lost Time," two middle-aged academics meet in Siberia and fall in love with little hope for a future together. A final day of ice-sailing at Lake Baikal offers them a possible solution.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1790718104
• ISBN13: 9781790718108
• Release Date: January 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.6" x 5.5"