Richard is like a traveler or pilgrim, moving from Haw River, North Carolina, to Arkansas to the Texas Gulf Coast and finally back to North Carolina again, as he and his people -- they drink hard, dance in their kitchens, lie and cheat -- struggle with their love and wrestle with their often inharmonious natures. In the end the narrator struggles to straighten out some small piece of his heart's crooked essence.My People's Waltz sadly celebrates the decisions we make to get on with the business of living.

• The stories in this collection have appeared in the Atlantic,...