The Equestrian Statue of Jesus and Other Stories

Six short stories, with original drawings—some new to this volume—by the author. “The Equestrian Statue of Jesus,” from which the entire book takes its title, is set in fictional Shocco County, North Carolina, and involves a comic controversy between two competing groups over the fate of a Confederate memorial statue on the courthouse square. “Winborne’s Autumn,” originally published in Long View Journal, describes a life-changing chance encounter between a lonely freshman and a young woman in Chapel Hill during the fall of 1961. “Chère Chatte, Meet Homely Hound” tells about a penniless young American soldier from North Carolina’s efforts to court a pretty French girl on an army post in Germany in the late 1960s. “The Ghostly Hitchhiker of Highway 54,” originally published in The State (October 1986), recounts a familiar Tar Heel legend. “Dromgoole’s Revenge” is a dark fantasy about the surprising fate of a quirky history professor being initiated in a secret society. Finally, “Home for a Funeral,” set in Eastern North Carolina, describes the dynamics between three generations, as a young man ends up refereeing between his mother and grandmother, both widows, who now live together under an uneasy truce.