The Station Master

by Jiro Asada

Meeting September 8th, 7:30 p.m.

this one was tough to find the authored synopsis, however there are some nice reviews I found on the internet:

The Stationmaster is an anthology of love and loss with a touch of supernatural in the everyday lives depicted therein.

Eight stories about eight vastly different people all share a theme in common – loss. Whether it is a stationmaster at a soon to be defunct railway station; a man dealing with the death of the wife he never knew; a boy dealing with a devil; or a couple realizing they may not get a second chance at love; each tale is an involving story about people and what beats at the core of their hearts.

The stories are fascinating. Told with a nostalgic air, we learn about the railway man who lost his wife and daughter; a video store owner of ill repute who discovers he has a heart after all when he falls in love with the woman he never knew until it was too late; a boy dealing with a tutor he believes to be the Devil; a middle aged man suffering a midlife crisis is reunited with the father that left him as a child; an unusual boutique and its enigmatic owner attract a salesman; the O-bon festival honoring the dead is a trying time for a wife who is being edged out by the family that has never cared for her; a man named Santa discovers he may have a small streak of good in him; and a couple separated by bitterness and years may find a second chance in an unusual invitation.

The strong sentiment and humanity in the writing is what draws the reader in. Out of the many tales, each one has a small wonder, a tiny miracle and otherworldly occurrence that helps bring things into perspective for the character. They are not always easy or happy endings, but such is life. Ghostly reunions, strange occurrences, and miraculous moments underpin everyday existence complete with its small joys and deeply felt losses. They are emotional journeys, not heavy handed, but with subtle depths that can take the reader by surprise. My personal favorites was the tale of the Stationmaster upon which the anthology is named, and the Festival of Lanterns about a woman who has always been an underdog in life and at the O-bon festival, gets a second chance. It is not a second chance filled with rainbows and bliss, but one of quieter happiness found in sudden freedom, new found self-esteem, and a surer sense of self.

The Woman in White

by Wilkie Collins.

Meeting August 4th, 7:30 p.m.

The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.
Masterfully constructed, The Woman in White is dominated by two of the finest creations in all Victorian fiction—Marion Halcombe, dark, mannish, yet irresistibly fascinating, and Count Fosco, the sinister and flamboyant “Napoleon of Crime.”