Praise for Call Up the Waters "The achievement of these stories has more to do with emotional movement than a point of arrival. This approach creates a sense of depth and realism: These characters exist beyond the moments the text describes; their world is not restricted to a story arc [. . .] A collection that patiently renders emotional depth without recourse to angst or melodrama."
-Kirkus Reviews "Caron's assured debut collection explores humanity's relationship with the natural world. [. . .] These stories provide strong and varied impressions of characters on the margins."
–Publishers Weekly "With astonishing power and in crystalline prose, the stories of
Call Up the Waters follow people who maintain precarious balance on the edge of the natural world."
–Foreword Reviews, starred review
"In Amber Caron's debut collection of short stories,
Call Up the Waters, the natural world is an escape hatch, a refuge, a site of work and an occasional antagonist."
–Jan Risher, The Advocate
"The razor sharp insights into the human psyche resonate in every story. There's no filler, only top notch writing that pulls you in without any predictable ending. The only other collection of short stories I've read this year that even compares to this is
Sidle Creek by Jolene McIlwain."–
Todd Miller, Arcadia Books, Spring Green, WI
"This stunning debut story collection marks the beginning of what is sure to be a long career. Amber Caron's knack for character-building drew me right in. Loved this!"–
Suzanna Hermans, Oblong Books, Millerton, NY"
Call Up the Waters is a stunning collection by
an extraordinary talent. With great precision, Amber Caron manages to locate
the most fragile and painful parts of her characters' relationships while also
pulling in a vivid sense of the external world and all that is beyond the open
window or door. These stories are suspenseful, moving, and beautifully
written."
–Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life"Amber Caron's debut signals the arrival of a bright talent to literary short fiction. Her prose sings, and shapes satisfying stories that reveal deeply human truths about labor, gender, and our ineffable connection to the natural world."–Megan Mayhew Bergman, author of How Strange a Season
"Amber Caron creates a sobering and nuanced sense of
emotional wilderness–a world in which no place is ever entirely sure or safe.
This book is cool, assured, unsettling, and gorgeous."
–Joan Wickersham,
author of The Suicide Index and The News from Spain "Amber Caron writes with flinty tenderness about the ways that human yearnings can collide with impervious physical and emotional landscapes. Her language is swift and precise. Her vision reaches beyond the surface terrain. The result, in this impressive debut collection, is storytelling that reverberates and haunts."
–Deirdre McNamer, author of Aviary: A Novel "Amber Caron's [work] stood out to our editors for many reasons, among them its bounty of wonderfu
