Blue in Chicago cover art

Blue in Chicago

And Other Stories

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Blue in Chicago

Written by: Bette Howland
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
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About this listen

'One of the significant writers of her generation.' Saul Bellow

'Her prose is cooler than a cocktail and sharper than a Japanese knife . . . Nora Ephron meets Lorrie Moore, which is about as good as it gets.' Observer

'We should be glad to have her back . . . Howland has the pinpoint vision that can make any sentence into a jewel' The Times

Blue in Chicago brings together the bittersweet short stories of the remarkable American writer Bette Howland. Hailed as a major talent before all but disappearing from public view, this tenderly compiled collection restores her vital voice to our shelves.

Bette Howland was an outsider: an intellectual from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago; a divorcee and single mother, to the disapproval of her Jewish family; an artist chipped away at by poverty and self-doubt. Her stories radiate a passionate commitment to the lives of ordinary people and the humble grace of everyday.

From city streets to the hospital to the public library to the mundane family outing, her sly humour, aching melancholy and tender insight illuminate every page. Here is an astonishing literary voice rediscovered.

Blue in Chicago features an afterword by Honor Moore and was published in the US under the title Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage.

'Beautifully bittersweet . . . funny, ruefully poetic and effortlessly perceptive.' Daily Mail

'Remarkable . . . Captivating writing: rhythmic, alert, empathetic . . . I haven’t enjoyed another book more this year.' Telegraph

'Profound . . . To read Bette Howland is to be handed a gift you didn't know you needed.' Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch

 Anthologies & Short Stories City Life Genre Fiction Jewish Literary Fiction Short Stories Urban Women's Fiction World Literature

Critic Reviews

The work of a woman who has invested her life in her art, and who will, I think be remembered as one of the significant writers of her generation. (Saul Bellow)
She holds the city's humanity in an uneasy but affectionate embrace, and her voice is unlike any other. Fiercely straightforward, honest, angry, warmhearted.
Her prose is cooler than a cocktail and sharper than a Japanese knife. It’s zippy, witty and sometimes deeply sad: Nora Ephron meets Lorrie Moore, which is about as good as it gets. (Rachel Cooke)
We should be glad to have her back . . . Howland also has the pinpoint vision that can make any sentence into a jewel you’d be proud to put on display.
Remarkable . . . Captivating writing: rhythmic, alert, empathetic . . . Cool satirical swing . . . I haven’t enjoyed another book more this year.
She sees those most of us like to forget: the impoverished, the old, the lost, forlorn and unhappy . . . Howland doesn’t shy away from the bloody sinews of life. Blue in Chicago is truthful, compassionate and absolutely devastating. (Lucy Scholes)
These are stories both intimate and universal, populated with recognisable characters, from a grieving widower to overlooked delivery men and set in a busy, bustling world that is brought vividly to life. (Sarah Hughes)
An ode to Chicago winters and the places that keep us warm when we have nowhere else to go. (Simon Han)
Howland’s sense of humor illuminates every page, and even her sharpest barbs glint with wisdom and humanity . . . Her lyrical passages approach not merely poetry, but something like the sacred, almost holy in their cadences . . . At last Howland’s claim has been re-staked, hopefully with a degree more permanence this time, for the rightful (after)life that awaits her work is that she be recognized as a Chicago writer of near-universal delight. (Kathleen Rooney)
Loving, lacerating sketches . . . With her flexible stance toward reality, her eye for the amusing, curious, minutiae of existence, and her tonal range, Howland recalls the short-story writer Lucia Berlin.
Howland’s portrait of Chicago reminds us of how collapsed and violent inner-city life could feel in the 1970s. (Tessa Hadley)
Profound. A masterful, layered portrait of city life, womanhood and the chaotic beauty of families. To read Bette Howland is to be handed a gift you didn't know you needed. (Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch)
Sharp, wry, entirely of their city; confidingly cynical, then with a sudden soulfulness that sends you reeling - I loved these stories. (Lucy Caldwell, author of Multitudes)
Blue In Chicago is a complex and incisive masterpiece but actually every paragraph of Bette Howland’s is a complex and incisive masterpiece. A phenomenal writer. (Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time)
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