Servants of the Map: Stories

The story begins with a quiet, young man who is to accompany a crew to Tibet to map the country, or more apt, the mountains His recent bride has made letters in advance, knowing the odds are not good for getting letters through. But he writes as he goes along, so she doesn't have a steady supply of his letters. All subsequent chapters derive from the first but are filled with different characters, all related in some way to the adventurer, who turns up at the end of the last story. It is very well done work, one to keep. . .

This author is very good and I enjoyed this collection of stories. I have enjoyed her novels even more.

The first story was very engaging. The rest are not.

I loved the writing style and subjects. If you are interested in the history of natural sciences you will love it.

Title story draws you into a man's mind, closely observed, fully appreciated, but from a distinctly female perspective. Infinite compassion, a surprise.

Arrived in timely manner, as described.

As described, arrived quickly, love the paperback format. I like historical fiction and this fits the bill. It is perfect.

This collection of six stories kept my attention throughout, although I generally don’t like short stories at all. It helped that her characters had a scientific bent: a surveyor and amateur botanist, a retired physical chemist, a biochemistry post-doc, a fossil collector. I appreciated that the science was accurate, so far as I could tell, and simply a matter-of-fact element of who these people were.Ms. Barrett’s settings range from Eastern Pennsylvania in 1810 to the Himalayas during Victoria’s reign to the modern East Coast. Connection is a theme of the story collection as a whole. Two young women dream of reuniting with long-lost brothers. Two sets of sisters struggle with their differences. Two girlhood crushes founder on the rocks of reality. Names and objects from one story pop up in another.I still don’t know why I happened to buy this book at a library used book sale, but I’m very glad I did.