A Litany in Time of Plague

Susan Manningham teaches sociology at Queen’s University in Kingston.

In her first collection of short stories, K.D. Miller tackles with
insight and sensitivity the painful issues of being human in the
postmodern world. The 10 linked stories feature the spiritual problems
of a loosely affiliated clutch of men, women, and children. In the title
story, the plague reference is not only to AIDS but to its ironic
companion, loneliness. We are introduced to Raymond and his ex-lover,
Robbie, who has contracted the plague of the 20th century. The last
story, “Lifesaver,” finds Raymond narrating his final days in a
nursing home. This futuristic tale, in which we learn that a cure for
AIDS was found five years after Robbie’s death, ends on a note of hope
for both the present and future worlds.