The Courts of Love: Stories - Softcover

The Court of Love opens with a series of stories about Nora Jane Whittington, who, once upon a time long ago, was a runaway teenage hipple. In a famous Gilchrist story she dressed as a nun and robbed a bar in New Orleans. Now, happily married and the mother of twins, Nora Jane returns to college and finds herself faced with a series of disasters that threaten her blissful life: a chance encounter between her husband and an old boyfriend, who fathered one of the twins; the assassination of a visiting writer; and a camping trip that nearly proves fatal. The resolution of these complications, aided by a mysterious visit from Leonardo da Vinci, culminates in the adaptation of two waifs, the marriage of an old friend, and the introduction of two new families into Gilchrist's galaxy of characters. The nine stories that follow, collectivity entitled "Past, " explore the hazards of recapturing and reviving old affairs. Using new and familiar characters, these stories shed new light on the oldest and most powerful emotion.

This celebrated collection opens with "Nora Jane and Company", a series of nine stories featuring one of the most popular characters in the Gilchrist galaxy: a former teenage runaway who once robbed a bar in New Orleans dressed as a nun. Now living happily in Berkeley, married and the mother of twins, Nora Jane is back in college, pregnant again, launching a new career, and facing circumstances that imperil her domestic bliss.

The nine stories that follow explore the hazards of recapturing and reviving old affairs. Featuring both new and familiar Gilchrist characters, all of these stories shed brilliant new light on the oldest emotion.