Something to look forward to

Flagg follows The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop with a charming collection full of characters transformed by unexpected changes of circumstance. "Special Agent William Frawley" follows the eponymous alien agent, who's sent to Earth to study human life. When he stops in an Indiana Baskin-Robbins, he charms the woman working there with his enthusiasm for every little detail. In "Don't Forget to Write," Helen, 64, is stunned when her husband leaves her for the younger Cassandra. She continues to dote on him, however, and even delivers his laundry to Cassandra's house. Then Cassandra threatens to get a restraining order, at which point Helen's interventions take a dark turn. An elderly woman in "The Dreaded D Word" is aghast when her money manager advises her to sell her lavish Alabama home, prompting her to take desperate measures to avoid the indignity of an estate sale. "Two Different Worlds," one of several linked stories about the Vanderhoff family, traces the generational divide between Kansas farmer Velma Vanderhoff and her granddaughter Cathy, a yoga instructor in California, while "City of Lost Dreams" tells the sad story of Cathy's late mother. In these homespun tales, Flagg channels her characters' fear of change and offers a genuine sense of hope. The author's fans will love this. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Aug.)

Thirty stories showcase the down-home author's take on various modern dilemmas. Flagg's first collection of stories after many popular novels features the sweet, quirky characters and whimsical predicaments she's known for. Some of the stories are linked; for example, the collection is bracketed by stories about Special Agent William Frawley, who's sent from distant Planet 8676 to report on human life and find out why they are all so unhappy and staring at their hands. (Can you guess?) Typical Flaggian elements include the fact that the spaceman's human avatar is based on the actor who played Fred onI Love Lucy, and that once he arrives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Agent Frawley falls in love with the whole bedraggled human race, but particularly a woman named Debbie, who scoops ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. Another set of stories revolve around "Velma Ruth Vanderhoff, a sweet-looking apple dumpling of a lady, with snow-white hair as soft as cotton candy," -who's never left her hometown of Cottonwood, Kansas. Her granddaughter Cathy, a yoga teacher in California, desperately wishes her grandmother would get online so they could text and FaceTime, but as it is, she's confined to expressing her worries about climate change, the patriarchy, and her daughter Tracie Ann's gender identity on a landline. She could visit…but will there be a charging station for her rented Tesla? Flagg offers a gently humorous grandma's-eye view of these and other matters, from fat-shaming, racism, and disability rights ("Hunter College," "The High School Reunion") to adultery and murder ("Darla Womble") to the problem of staying in one's lane for white male authors ("The Fiction Writer"). All in all, the collection is not quite as engaging or successful as Flagg's novels, but it could serve as either a gateway drug for newbies or a snack pack for die-hard fans. What with the current enthusiasm for grandma-core, Flagg's comforting, nostalgic storytelling may be just the ticket. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.