Imagining Alaska

Suzanne Zbailey
Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:45:52 PDT

'I'd never felt part of something big before, ' says the character of Helen near the end of 'Imagining Alaska.' Each of the protagonists in this collection of three stories and a novella strives to become part of something they imagine is greater than themselves. For example, in 'Naked, ' Veronica's desire to be taken seriously as an artist leads her to an affair with a painter, while the lawyer in 'Sweet Country Song' projects her wish for a change in her life onto a cowboy. Meanwhile, Agnes in 'St. Agnes of the Mermaids' struggles with her religious beliefs, and Helen in the title novella tries to forge a life for herself as a young widow in Alaska. The pieces are told from either the first-person or limited third-person point-of-view, so that the reader progresses through the same act of discovery the protagonist does, until both reach a final moment of revelation