broken water
Paula Martin Morell
September 2006
100 pages
paperback
ISBN 0-9785648-2-0
$13.95
Praise for broken water
"broken water is alternately painful and poignant, triumphant and troubling, pure and profound. The characters are memorable and the thoughts eloquently expressed."
--Midwest Book Review
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"Paula Martin Morell's broken water is a collection of memorable stories, giving us glimpses of lives we know with the insight of art."
--Dan Wakefield, author of the novels Going All The Way and Starting Over
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"[broken water] is definitely well-crafted, thought-provoking, and ultimately uplifting despite the rather sad subject matter. Paula Martin Morell knows how to write skillfully. Her use of an unusual format held my interest throughout.... If you enjoy seeing into people’s souls and examining the true familial cost of distance and betrayal then this is one for you. At the very least it should inspire any reader to talk more to their loved ones, before it is too late."
--Women Writers
"Sometimes wry, sometimes sad, sometimes moving, broken water is about many things, but most of all it is about family: the tragedies, the misunderstandings, the confusion, yet also the love that is sometimes lost beneath all the hurts. As an entry in that unique art form, the short story cycle, broken water is more than a collection of individual stories each of which would stand well on its own. The carefully and meticulously forged links of shared imagery, character, and motifs connect one story to the next and provide the discerning reader a rich, four dimensional experience that engages the mind and touches the heart."
--Allison McNeill, author of The Book of Gifts and The Compassion to Heal
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"Though not as linear as novel chapters, each story in broken water builds on the next until a hodge podge picture of a larger whole is revealed. A certain detail from one story will pop up in a unique way in different story; another will challenge an assumption of one character later on. Ranging so widely in time and space and character point of view, the effect is having a partially completed puzzle the reader is given a few key parts with which to piece together the whole...
--Small Spiral Notebook
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"Morell's characters in broken water not only seem believable, but they feel like they're in the room with you. The characters are brutally honest, and take the readers on an unexpected family journey through a series of connected vignettes. This is a novel you won't want to put down, even when you reach the end."
--Diane Payne, author of Burning Tulips
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"broken water has been chosen by a Colorado high school as a creative writing tool for good reason. Ms. Morell's writing is beautiful in its simplicity, her prose style elegant...I overuse the word "stunning" perhaps, but sometimes stunning is the only word that will suffice. The truths revealed by Ms. Morell are stunning...."
--New Works Review
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"It's so immediate and heartfelt, simple and ordinary yet surprising in ways only real life can be. It feels like a page out of the human heart."
--Laura Parker Castoro, author of Crossing the Line
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"A very quick read, broken water will make you look at your mother differently as you understand what drives Elizabeth. You may think about your own life, hoping that you are not as lost as Ellie, just working to pass the time, and unable to open herself up."
--Book Review Cafe
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"...Ellie's brittle but harsh words are frequently softened by the moving images and metaphors threading through the separate but united scenes. Such evocative juxtaposition is literally (no exaggeration) breathtaking, and the reader must stop to contemplate such artistic and literate writing. This is a collection to be enjoyed by those readers who truly appreciate writing by a master of the craft."
--Crystal Reviews
Synopsis of broken water
Beautifully written with striking imagery, broken water revolves around a mother (Elizabeth) and her 28-year-old daughter (Ellie). Through the interweaving of their stories, we see that Elizabeth sadly and tragically denies truth, while Ellie is unable and sometimes unwilling to see all the things that would connect her to others and herself. As the novel progresses, Ellie is slowly opening up to the possibility of these connections as she approaches her own truth, her own rebirth. The effects of these characters and their lives ripple throughout the novel, affecting all of the family members on different levels.
Six of the ten stories have been published independently in literary journals and magazines. Now the stories are brought together in the novel, the way that they were conceived and created. While the stories resonate on their own, in the novel they now reverberate as they illuminate the characters, themes, and imagery on a whole new level.
About the Author
Paula Martin Morell, MFA, is the recipient of regional, national, and international awards for her short stories and poetry. Her work has also appeared in publications such as Short Story Journal, New Works Review, Outsider Ink, Southern Hum, Foliate Oak, Passport Journal, Quills and Pixels, The Double Dealer Redux, The Little Rock Free Press, The Arkansas Women's Journal, and Word Salad. Three times she has been featured as an emerging writer at the International Conference on the Short Story in English. She is the founder and Creative Director of The Midnight Muse, the Founder and Executive Editor of Temenos Publishing Company, the Founder and Editor of radio show "Tales from the South," and is a member of the Arkansas Arts Council Arts in Education Artist Roster.
Paula lives with her husband Jason and their children Annaliese, Sophia, and Jude Little Rock, Arkansas, where she writes, edits, teaches creative writing workshops, and teaches college writing classes online. She and Jason also own and operate Starving Artist Cafe' in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock.
Phone: 501-372-7976 Fax: 501-372-7188
