The Beauty and the Hell of It and Other Stories (Guernica, 2025) conjures up images of women who struggle through difficult transitions, unpleasant encounters, or ghastly boyfriends and husbands. One woman is a lesbian who sees the man who raped her a decade before, another suffers from bipolar disease, and a third is harassed by her professor. Some of them are grieving and others want vindication but few of them are living the lives they’d imagined. And then there’s Liam, who is devastated by his young son’s death, and who’d always loved the daughter of one of his father’s wives. These are beautifully written, sensitive stories about a range of human reactions to the harsh realities of life and death.

Lynda Williams is a freelance copyeditor and short fiction writer based in Calgary, Alberta. Her stories have appeared in Grain, The Humber Literary Review, and The New Quarterly, among others. Her literary influences include Raymond Carver, Pam Houston, and Lorrie Moore. Born and raised on a dairy farm in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Lynda arrived in Calgary after a 40-hour trip on a Greyhound bus, after which she took the best shower of her life. She has called Alberta home ever since. When she’s not writing, Lynda can be found experimenting with gluten-free baking and bingeing New Girl on one of many streaming services. She has been married to her partner in crime for 12 years, and they share their home (and food) with the world’s most adorable mini–Australian Shepherd, Cooper. She is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. For more information about Lynda and her work, visit her website here

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