For the launch of the paperback release of Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger, author Lee Smith did a series of book events around North Carolina at our favorite local indie bookstores – Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, The Regulator in Durham, McIntyre’s in Pittsboro, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, and The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines. A celebrated and bestselling writer with a dozen novels under her belt, she is just as widely recognized–and just as highly praised–for her exceptional short stories.

rs.Blue-Eyed Stranger, Lee collects seven brand-new

In Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger, Lee collects seven brand-new stories along with seven of her favorites from three earlier collections. The result? A book of dazzling richness and characters that stay with you long after you turn the page.

As the New York Times Book Review wrote: “In almost every one of [her stories] there is a moment of vision, or love, or unclothed wonder that transforms something plain into something transcendent.”

Tom Campbell, owner of the Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC, summed up Lee’s short stories best when he compared them to a rich, bourbon-filled pecan pie:

Not only is Lee an amazing writer, but she’s also a master storyteller. Click on this video to see part of Lee’s presentation, where she hilariously sets the stage for a reading from her short story “Tongues of Fire.”