Synopsis
In the linked short stories of Bitches Ride Alone, Laura Chester returns to her signature subject matter with headlong, unguarded candor. Chronicling girlhood crushes, bittersweet love affairs, and erotic fantasies, Chester's narrator, a nameless divorcee in her middle forties, examines the tension between the idealism of womanly desire and the shortcomings of reality. The titles of the stories say it all: "First-base Boyfriend," "The Never Enough Club," "How Not to Seduce Your Therapist," "The Art of Kissing at the Age of Forty." Chester's courage, honesty, and humor are here in abundance and are a healing balm to every woman's romantic misery.
Review of Contemporary Fiction
It is the exuberance of this collection that is its most charming feature. Loose and lanky, the prose seems to thrive on rawness and recklessness . . . Chester's best writing comes from a radical girlhood-curious, impatient, impetuous, and alive.