Each of the twelve stories in A twilight Reel chronicles a transformation-loss, self-discovery, renewal-among the inhabitants of the fictional town of Runion, NC. A preacher held at knifepoint in a stranger's cabin, another who absconds with his church's funds and the wife of a parishioner; an elderly woman who slowly goes mad as she freezes to death; a renowned fiddler who returns home to die of AIDS; a gravedigger more comfortable with the dead than the living ... Sinful or righteous, imbued with hope or beyond redemption, each of these memorable characters struggles to endure, survive, or triumph over unplanned encounters with the people, forgotten or remembered, admired or scorned, who beset their lives. These narrative threads are masterfully woven into the tapestry that is A Twilight Reel-a book full of surprises, dark fears, and unexpected humor, that echoes and distills the travails of any people, in any place.