Andrea Barrett

Servants of the Map

Exquisite new fictions by the National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever, "a writer we must declare as major" (Newsday).

Ranging across two centuries, and from the western Himalaya to an Adirondack village, these wonderfully imagined stories and novellas travel the territories of yearning and awakening, of loss and unexpected discovery. A mapper of the highest mountain peaks realizes his true obsession. A young woman afire with scientific curiosity must come to terms with romantic fantasy. Brothers and sisters, torn apart at an early age, are beset by dreams of reunion. Throughout, Andrea Barrett's most characteristic theme—the happenings in that borderland between science and desire—unfolds in the diverse lives of unforgettable human beings.

Although each richly layered tale stands alone, readers who are already fans of Barrett will discover subtle links to characters in her earlier works. "Servants of the Map," the title story, was selected for Best American Short Stories (2001) and Prize Stories: The O'Henry Awards (2001).