A newlywed gazes upon the wreckage of the Titanic. A young woman becomes the protégé of a Parisian hotelier. An old woman meets an angel in a ghost town. Underground Women is a compilation of short stories by multitalented writer Jesse Lee Kercheval. The heart of the volume is a reissue of narratives first published as the The Dogeater, winner of the AWP Short Fiction Award in 1987. With arresting imagery and heart-wrenching storylines, Kercheval’s work uses humor and imagination to weave together themes of loss, dignity, tenacity and acceptance. These surreal and powerful vignettes will resonate with readers today as much as they did when first published.

Jesse Lee Kercheval is the author and editor of fifteen books, including fiction, poetry, memoir, and a textbook on writing fiction. She is the Zona Gale Professor of English and Director of the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.