“If you ever wondered what life is like for the down and out, the remarkable Sojourner lays it out in precise and unsparing prose in her latest collection of short stories. Throughout, Sojourner's ability to bring extraordinary characters to life and bring depth and heart to ordinary circumstances makes this collection memorable.”

— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review

“In [these] stories set in the southwest, the mostly working–class characters struggle to rise beyond their pasts and their own worst tendencies…Sojourner uses passion, high–energy storytelling, and unflinching empathy to break the reader's heart.”

— KIRKUS REVIEWS

“The heart in these stories beats out of its chest. Sojourner is the voice of the luckless, the rejected, and the defiantly free. Reading this collection will give you blisters in tender places, and you'll be proud of them.”

— BRADEN HEPNER, author of Pale Harvest

“Long ago, farming families would leave a candle in a window at night so that a wayward soul wandering in the dark could find a way to comfort. This best describes Mary Sojourner's tales of small lives struggling for connection. Some construct fences around themselves and blame the fence, others find comfort in acceptance. They are, like their creator, sojourners. In every case, Mary Sojourner brings candlelight to their struggles.”

— H. LEE BARNES, author of The Gambler's Apprentice

From security guards and jack rabbits to bartenders and blue herons, the desert–dwellers in The Talker surface with grit and grace from dust-blown trailers and ancient Joshua trees. With her signature down–to–earth storytelling style and uniquely empathetic eye, Sojourner writes a community seeking refuge, truth, and escape within the desert glare of the Mojave with this novella and story collection.