Holley Rubinsky

"These eighteen stories are Holley Rubinsky's gift to the world, each one equal parts intelligence, sadness and jokes. Her empathy for her characters is vast, her craft pitch-perfect, and each of these eighteen worlds is an authentic place with even-more authentic troubles. Many lives end in these pages, but just as many begin anew—stories swerve from the loss of wisdom to the wisdom of loss but are never less than absolutely joyful." —Adam Lewis Schroeder, author of In the Fabled East

"Holley Rubinsky's new collection is a treat for all the senses. Each story startles while at the same time rings true." -- Judy Toews, Never Say Diet: Discover Your Body's Inner Wisdom




If you’re like me, you’ll want to make your way through Holley Rubinsky’s South of Elfrida slowly, savouring the earthy quirkiness of her characters; the masterful sense of pace; the carefully constructed mise-en-scene of each short story. Even then you may find yourself going back over what you’ve read to reacquaint yourself with a turn of phrase that brought a bizarre kind of glamour to something mundane. Rubinsky’s words do have a way of staying with you. — Dianne Linden, Shimmerdogs; On Fire (Thistledown Press, 2013)





"The stories are acutely observed and very fluently written; they're sometime sad, sometimes funny, always engaging. I loved the desert landscapes and relished being plunged into a world not my own -- one of people on the move, snowbirds, border-crossers, people between one thing and the next. And I really enjoyed the fauna. So much modern fiction is merely human, but here characters relate passionately not only to each other, but also to their environments and the animals, domestic and wild, with whom they live." -- Kathy Page, Alphabet, The Find

"The descriptions are exquisite, as are the details of the characters' lives. Holley Rubinsky is wise in the ways of the world and in the complications of the yearning heart." -- Alistair MacLeod

"...Quirky, moving, and laugh-out-loud funny." -- Caroline Adderson

distant rain

"Set largely in desert communities just north of the Mexican border (where the quotidian can give way to blazing sunsets, enormous silent stars) and deep in the personal heartlands of what it is to be no longer young, and never perfect, the stories in South of Elfrida lead us through the latitudes of loss and desire, in the company of characters brave, gritty, witty, and very real -- sparking insights that keep glowing long after the book is closed." -- Barbara Lambert, A Message for Mr. Lazarus and The Whirling Girl

Dragoon Mountains

The blue moon drum and rattle ceremony happens in the Dragoon Mountains in the story "Stronghold". Cochise's hideaway is nearby.



"I have thoroughly enjoyed the company of these fragile, tough, scarred, resilient characters. This is a book to be treasured."--Myrl Coulter, The House with the Broken Two

The travel trailer (a Casita) and the Ford Explorer. Missing in the photo is the traveling cat, her nature much like the cat in the story "Darling". She came a long way into trust and would come back to the camper when I whistled and spend the nights inside. Unfortunately she had a genetic disorder and didn't live long. But what a joy of a cat for many years.