During the deathwatch for Martha O'Shea a community comes to life as the three women sitting up with Martha confront their demons. Annie, who still defies every rule in her rural community, keeps everyone on edge, and, true to form, her revelations in regard to her brother, who supposedly died in an accident, brings everyone to their knees. The Passing of Martha O'Shea contains the title novella (a semi-finalist selection in the 1998 Pirate's Alley Faulkner Novella Competition) as well as three other stories, two of which appeared in Christopher Street and The James White Review. From the loss of innocence of Francois in Quebec City to the decline of a young hustler in the West Village of New York City, this collection opens up a world of intense characters carving out a place for themselves and accepting the consequences of choices made in a quest for clarity in the tangle of joys and heartaches that we all share whether gay or straight."