Kaplan, Hester 1959-

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KAPLAN, Hester 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born 1959; married Michael Stein (a physician); children: Toby, Alex. Education: Barnard College, B.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Providence, RI. Office—Rhode Island School of Design, Two College St., Providence RI 02903. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Little, Brown & Co., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER:

Short story and novel writer. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, instructor.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Flannery O'Connor Prize for Short Fiction, University of Georgia Press, 1999, for The Edge of Marriage.

WRITINGS:

The Edge of Marriage (short stories), University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 1999.

Kinship Theory: A Novel, Little, Brown & Co. (Boston, MA), 2000.

Author's short stories, "Live Life King-sized," and "Would You Know it Wasn't Love?," were anthologized in Best American Short Stories, 1998 and 1999 editions, respectively. Contributor to periodicals such as Ploughshares, Story, Glimmer Train, and Agni.

SIDELIGHTS:

Short stories have been Rhode Island author Hester Kaplan's domain for most of her literary career. Her first published short story, "Goodwill," about a woman faced with the task of sorting her dead mother's belongings, appeared in Ploughshares in 1989. Ten years and numerous published stories later, nine of Kaplan's works were brought together in the compilation The Edge of Marriage, earning her the Flannery O'Connor Prize for Short Fiction. In 2000 Kaplan's first novel, Kinship Theory, was published. Peter D. Kramer, writing in American Psychiatry, called Kaplan "a yet-to-be-discovered master of a demanding craft."

The stories in The Edge of Marriage explore the institution of marriage as it faces psychological and physical challenges. For instance, in "Would You Know It Wasn't Love?" an older couple's marriage is put to the test when their daughter's own marriage disintegrates. "Dysaesthesia" tells the story of a man struggling with a disabling injury while his wife comes to terms with the fact that the injury was sustained while he was with another woman. A reviewer for the Economist called each story in the compilation "moving and intelligent." In Library Journal, Yvette Weller Olson stated that Kaplan's stories are "taut yet smooth, they are a glass surface reflecting emotional tension, complex relationships, and somber reality."

Kaplan's novel Kinship Theory takes a contemporary issue and looks beyond the controversy to the reality of human fallibility and dysfunctional family dynamics. Kaplan tells the story of Maggie Crown, a forty-seven-year-old divorcee who is essentially guilt-tripped into becoming a surrogate mother for her infertile daughter. With misgivings about her own abilities as a mother, she realizes a growing attachment to the baby even as she begins to mistrust her daughter's capacity for motherhood. Although the premise of the book was described by some critics as melodramatic, Kaplan's prose was widely acclaimed. "Kaplan explores these complex issues intimately and with extraordinary skill," wrote a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. Dana Kennedy, writing in the New York Times Book Review, stated that "Kaplan's story refuses to hew to formula.…The surprising denouement is both rewarding and revelatory." In a review for Insight Online Myfanwy Tristam concluded that it is Kaplan's "up-to-the-elbows approach, as well as fallible characters and stunning turns of phrase that make this book such a treasure."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Journal of Psychiatry, December, 2001, Peter D. Kramer, review of Kinship Theory, pp. 2097-2098.

Book, January, 2001, Rebecca Rego, review of Kinship Theory, p. 74.

Booklist, September 1, 1999, Donna Seaman, review of The Edge of Marriage, p. 68; November 15, 2000, Danise Hoover, review of Kinship Theory, p. 618.

Economist, February 19, 2000, review of The Edge of Marriage, p. 14; April 21, 2001, review of Kinship Theory, p. 9.

Library Journal, September 1, 1999, Yvette Weller Olson, review of The Edge of Marriage, p. 235; November 1, 2000, Reba Leiding, review of Kinship Theory, p. 135.

New York Times Book Review, April 29, 20001, Dana Kennedy, review of Kinship Theory, p. 20.

Publishers Weekly, August 16, 1999, review of The Edge of Marriage, p. 62; October 16, 2000, review of Kinship Theory, p. 46.