"Nora and the Black Man," by Nona Caspers

Relying on the insulation of a rural Minnesota town, a teenager’s perception of her parents’ fears is at odds with her curious mind that longs to understand complexity and connections rather than the separateness and rigid boundaries of their lives.  The story so well presents this tension that we read the following line with both humor and profound insight:  “Before Nora was born her father had a crush on Dianna Ross.”  The midwest in this story recalls the sensitivity of a writer like Eudora Welty but Capers firmly plants her story in the farming midwest.  Read it here in Cimarron Review.