Department of English

Golden Slumbers is a collection of four short stories that revolve around dreams, blurred realities, and memory. What secrets lurk in the corners of the subconscious? Does something profound lie on the edge of consciousness, or is it only blank space? Can the memories of a person keep them with us forever? And isn’t it a kind of magic to connect with strangers, even if only for a fleeing moment? The first story, “Sundown,” follows a girl’s stay at her grandmother’s house, where the mysterious content of her dreams seems to echo a darkness within the house’s history. In “Grace Lee,” the titular character meets someone with the same name as her, and her fixation on the double leads her down a dangerous path. “Bird Book” tells the story of a young man’s life through his relationship to a book his grandfather gifted him: a field guide for birds. Finally, “Spring breaks!” follows a group of college students road-tripping home for break, and the conversations and unlikely encounters they have along the way shed new light, bringing them together. As you make your way through Golden Slumbers, I hope the light hits you at just the right angle. And I wish you sweet dreams.