Gray Zone: Stories

About the Book

A chaste obsession with youth and beauty inspires unspoken crimes of emotion and regret, ruining the good name of a respected man . . . A discarded lover descends into the delusions of another existence . . . A neighbor's uncomfortable confusion leads to a small, impulsive murder . . . Welcome to the GRAY ZONE—the place between the extremes where relationships are redefined and once-comfortable life-paths turn toward the shadows. In fourteen bold, provocative, unforgettable stories, Vija K. Stamey illuminates this landscape of blind turns and missteps, where ironies abound and startling revelations roil placid emotional waters. In a lonely old woman's torment over simple choices, in the sad, desperate acts of a single mother, in a husband's naïve, unshakable faith and devotion in the face of an unacceptable betrayal are powerful truths brought lyrically, poignantly, compassionately to the fore by an extraordinary literary artist. “Ms. Stamey's writing possesses an accuracy and a heart that are rarely found in today's fiction . . . Her stories are both tragic and touching . . . allowing her readers to not only identify, but to feel, the notion of truthfulness and sorrow that exists in the untold stories of everyday life . . .”

About the Author

Vija K. Stamey was formerly a criminal prosecutor for county and state agencies in New York. She currently owns and manages a dancewear shop, teaches dance, and writes in Westchester County, NY, where she lives with her family. She is the author of a previous short story collection entitled Women I've Known.