"Nunc Stans--A Ferry Tale; A Novella and Stories" book by PJ Piccirillo

From the title story’s beautiful reflection on a couple’s grief, guilt, and awakenings in the aftermath of a stillbirth, to a graduate student navigating the trauma of assault and the prerogative of her identity, this novella and stories features conflicted hearts searching for human connection across vivid landscapes.

More About Nunc Stans
In the opening novella, Randolf, a Susquehanna ferryman, is piloting an Amish wedding party. But mid-river, the ferry snags on a weir, and a frightened mare bolts from the deck. As Randolf tries to save the ferry, he’s forced to confront his own remorse in a haunting reflection of a couple’s grief, guilt, and awakenings in the aftermath of a stillbirth.

In “Not 2B,” a down-on-his-luck dirt track driver is in search of redemption for the on-track tragedy that made him the scorn and scapegoat of 800 Saturday night race fans.

“Nancy,” inspired by John O’Hara’s Appointment in Samarra, is set in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania and tells the crossing paths of a raw Pennsylvania lumbering crew, an influenza-ridden society man, and a female African American goat farmer.

In “The Wagon Woman,” a story of the irony of highways simultaneously feeding and destroying small towns, an EMT arrives at his most tragic medical incident to discover the aftershock of an illicit love affair he is embroiled in.

In “Mainland,” Robin, an ecology student, is doing graduate fieldwork in Maine. On an evening out, a marine biologist named Susan persuades Robin to join her and three men for an impromptu party on a cobblestone beach. Abandoned with a drunk lobsterman and saving herself from a sexual assault, Robin comes to realize the prerogative of her own fertility and identity.

What Others Are Saying:

“With Nunc Stans and the other beautifully crafted stories in this volume, PJ Piccirillo delivers the same poetic prose and captivating storytelling that have established him as one of the premiere writers of the Appalachian literary tradition.”

--Ken Gormley, New York Times bestseller and author of “The Heiress of Pittsburgh”

"A beautifully written collection rooted in place—on rivers and in forests, in small towns and on highways. Piccirillo's vivid characterization probes themes of human weakness, loss, regret and the search for redemption. Through compelling stories of flawed, yet sympathetic characters, Nunc Stans is unflinching in its honesty."
--Linda Schifino, Professor Emerita, Carlow University
 
"From empty factories and coal-choked rivers in Pennsylvania to bastardized woods along the shore of Maine, Piccirillo reminds us of the transformation of the landscape by an industrial past. A highway changes a small town; a strip mine becomes a race track, while a bridge may make an industry obsolete."
--Virginia Rafferty, author of The Road to Lattimer