OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES - VOLUME ONE
Written by Katharine Tonti
Published by: Bookbaby.com
(Soft cover only. Not currently available as an e-reader.)
Page Count: 100
Publication Date: September 29, 2023
Step into kitchens and classrooms, dance halls and dressing rooms,
grief groups and grocery stores — the ordinary places where extraordinary
moments unfold. In this deeply human and fiercely original collection,
you'll find stories inspired by real voices and imagined truths.
From a nun who hurls a sandwich out a classroom window to a woman
who finds herself mourning a pineapple more than a marriage,
Other People’s Stories, Volume One invites readers to laugh,
listen, and lean in. Some tales are whispered. Others shout. All deserved to be heard.
Where to Buy:
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📦 Amazon.com – No coupon available.
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Table of Contents
Reviews listed below.
✦ SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
White gloves, strong coffee, and stories that never stay the same.
On warm Sunday afternoons, four women in pastel dresses gather around a kitchen table to sip coffee, share pastries, and exchange secrets just beyond the ears of the men tinkering under car hoods outside…
EXCERPT:
The black Ford sedan creeps to a stop in front of a perfectly manicured lawn. The passenger is impatient. As the driver makes his way around the car to open the door, his fingers linger on the hood. He stops to rub off a smudge of invisible dirt, but the blast of the car horn startles him. “I’m coming, I’m comin’…Jesus, Joseph and his wife, can’t you wait a minute?” he yells at the passenger.
She leans toward the steering wheel and presses her palm firmly and emphatically on the horn. “Hey, I ain’t got all day.” she screams back.
He reaches the passenger side and leans into the open window to finish the conversation, then reconsiders. He steps back and yanks the door open. As she lunges forward, the heels of her white patent leather pumps leave indentations in the grass. She runs up the driveway and quickly climbs the five stone steps to the front door.
“You are not going to believe this,” she says as she plants air kisses, one on each side of the cheeks of her hostess.
“What happened?” asks the woman as the screen door slams behind them.
They scurry toward the kitchen. Their voices drop to a whisper. The guest makes the sign of the cross before she leans in and whispers into the ear of her hostess who has removed her tangerine-colored clip-on earning to make sure she doesn’t miss a word.
✦ A BAG, A NUN, AND A BOY NAMED JIM
In America, we do not eat peppers for breakfast. Unless you’re Jimmy — and then, just try and stop him.
In a Catholic school classroom filled with tiny cereal boxes and buttered white toast, one boy’s olive-oil-drenched sandwich becomes a battleground for belonging.
EXCERPT:
Jimmy’s breakfasts were packed in large brown paper shopping bags emblazoned with the neighborhood grocery store’s logo. When viewed from the doorway of the classroom, Jimmy’s paper bag stood like the summit of a mountain range among the smaller peaks of paper bags that sat on the right-hand corner of our desks.
You could smell Jimmy’s after-communion meal before you could see it. Usually, it consisted of the previous night’s dinner which had been reconfigured into a breakfast option. This sensory overture to our communal meal did not sit well with our fellow classmates whose traditional breakfast consisted of either buttered white toast, or one of those tiny cereal boxes that were perforated down the middle so you could tear it open and pour a carton of milk on top of your favorite treat.
✦ THE ANANAS OF MY EYE
One pineapple. One betrayal. One hell of a comeback.
When Frank leaves Rose after 50 years of marriage — claiming he’s just popping out to buy a pineapple — he doesn’t just walk out on her. He walks out on an entire neighborhood of women who counted on him…
EXCERPT:
Frank left Rose.
Just like that.
One minute he was mowing the lawn, the next he was in the kitchen telling Rose he was going to the grocery store to buy a pineapple. He had a taste for fresh pineapple. He’d only be gone 15 minutes, and did she want anything from the market?
He never came home.
A few months later, Rose found out he had left town with another woman. Rumor had it they were living in New Mexico. By that time, it didn’t matter to Rose where he was living now, as long he’d spend an eternity of eternities alone, in pain and in hell.
OVERHEARD
Some truths are too good to keep to yourself.
From the vet’s office to the church pew, from a hospital waiting room to the Halloween aisle at Target, Overheard is a collection of real, raw, and ridiculously human moments captured in passing. Funny, heartbreaking, and occasionally absurd, these snippets remind us that everyone has a story — whether they mean to tell it or not.
EXCERPT:
In the airport.
“Do you have our passports?”
“I thought you had them.”
In church – a woman standing in front of a row of votive candles.
“I’m not kidding this time.”
At the vet’s office.
“My cat’s leaking.”
In a hospital waiting area.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he didn’t make it through surgery.”
✦ IT’S STRANGER IN THE NIGHT
Some strangers leave you speechless. Others leave you rethinking your entire love life.
From a dressing room confession about an ex-mother-in-law’s funeral outfit to a grief group walkout turned TMI overshare, It’s Stranger in the Night is a sharply funny, wildly unexpected story about the conversations we never ask for — and the bizarre comfort they bring.
EXCERPT:
"Six months ago, I met this guy in a thrift store. I love to shop at thrift stores, and I was in there looking at this outfit when I hear a voice say to me, ‘You’d look good in that.’ I turn around and there’s this guy in a wheelchair staring at me. I’m telling you it was like getting hit with a two by four. It was love at first sight. I hadn’t felt like that in years. So, we start going out and I have to tell you, the sex was incredible. I mean, I thought this was it! Finally, I meet the guy I’ve been waiting for all my life. Then last week, the guy dumps me – he’s two timing me with somebody else. Do you believe it?”
“Oh, wow-”
“I got dumped by a guy in a wheelchair. Honest to shit. Do you believe that?”
“I am genuinely sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m going to write a book. You know what I’m going to
call it?”
“What?”
“I Got Dumped by a Paraplegic. How’s that for a title?”
✦ THE UNINVITED GUEST
Some losses are so profound, they echo for generations.
When eighteen-year-old Martin Antonelli volunteers to fight in Vietnam, he leaves behind a close-knit immigrant family — and shatters the future his mother had so carefully planned for him. The Uninvited Guest is a heartbreaking meditation on war, loss, and the slow, invisible casualties no one counts — the ones that happen in kitchens, bedrooms, and family cemeteries half a world away.
EXCERPT:
On the morning of his eighteenth birthday, Martin Antonelli did the unthinkable.
Instead of waiting for his draft board to contact him, he drove to the local recruiting office and enlisted in the United States Marine Corp. It was 1968; the bloodiest, deadliest year of the so-called Conflict in Vietnam.
Martin was a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. Sometime during the day – or night – of June 5, 1968, he was shot by enemy fire. Three days later, he died in an Army field hospital. He was 8,422 miles away from home.
✦ KNIGHT IN WHITE SATIN
In a smoky little dress shop, every woman walked out feeling like a movie star. So did he.
Mr. Feldman wasn’t just a shopkeeper — he was a dreamweaver. With a silk tie, a silver cigarette case, and an uncanny gift for knowing exactly what a woman needed, he transformed lives one outfit at a time. Knight in White Satin is a poignant, stylish, and exquisitely detailed portrait of identity, longing, and the magic we make when the world isn’t watching.
EXCERPT:
Mr. Feldman was a ladies’ man. Not in that sleazy, too-good-looking-to-be-true kind of way. Women simply felt safe around him. They trusted him. More important, he understood how clothes were constructed, and how the right dress could make a woman feel. He knew fashion wasn’t about beautiful clothes. It was about impossible dreams.
His customers described the occasion for which they needed an ensemble, and Mr. Feldman would disappear into that canyon of clothing and return with eight to ten different ensembles. While they were in the dressing room trying one after another – there was never a need to rush – he’d meander through the aisles, returning with two or three more outfits his client absolutely had to consider.
He never knocked on the dressing room door. He simply opened it and handed the alternates to the women. No one screamed in protest that someone other than their husbands saw them half-dressed, struggling to straighten a stocking seam or unsnap a girdle so they could take a deep breath.
✦ THAT’S WHAT YOU GET
It’s not just the heart that breaks.
Told in poetic fragments with devastating clarity, That’s What You Get explores the quiet, cumulative toll of divorce. Not the shouting matches or courtroom battles — but the ache of starting over, aisle by aisle.
EXCERPT:
The thing about divorce is that it’s not just about losing a spouse.
Or your home.
Or the dishes you bought.
It’s about the mop.
There are some parties of two
who easily (so they say) uncouple to become a party of one.
They claim they make better friends than lovers.
More often than not though, the party of two who become one party of one plus a different party of one go their separate ways.
Going…Going…Gone.
A lucky few compromise on the disposition of their personal property.
More often than not, a party of one lingers and loiters in discount stores and big box warehouses
replacing… repurchasing…
coffee pots and carpets
ladles and laundry baskets
toasters and trash cans
frying pans and freezer bags.
In the end, it’s more than broken hearts and unkept promises.
It’s more than feeling relief or failure, (depending on which party of two decided they’d be better off as a party of one).
In the end, it’s all about the mop
and the countless times a party of one must use it to wipe up the mess
that is theirs – and theirs alone –
every single day for the rest of their life.
✦ UNDER THE SEA
One glass sculpture. One fearless toddler. One royal-level catastrophe.
In a house ruled by plastic-covered furniture and unspoken rules, a shimmering Murano masterpiece rests on a fireplace hearth like buried treasure — until one fateful Sunday visit. Under the Sea is a laugh-out-loud, heart-tugging tale of childhood reverence, adult panic, and the quiet grace of a woman everyone called “La Regina,” whether she deserved the crown or not.
EXCERPT:
Until I was seven years old, I believed my great aunt was the long-lost older sister of Queen Elizabeth II, a royal princess the House of Windsor refused to acknowledge as the rightful heir to the throne.
I say this because her husband always referred to her as “La Regina”, and no one ever contradicted him. In fact, most of the adults in the family readily admitted she was a Queen all right, although the rolling eyeballs and whispered side comments left one to wonder, exactly, the extent of her realm and integrity of her rule. But for those of us under the age of eight, all we knew was that Italy no longer had a royal house, so who else could she be related to other than the British Monarch herself?
✦ THE PRICE OF PEACE
Some battles are fought on foreign soil. Others never leave the heart.
When a hospice worker stops to help an elderly man at his wife’s bedside, she expects a quiet moment of comfort. What follows is a sweeping, deeply personal story — of a young soldier drafted into World War II, a son he never met, and a promise that carried him across oceans, into the halls of power, and finally, home.
EXCERPT:
“Only two of us made it back. Do you believe that? Only two of us. Me and my buddy were the only ones who survived. I was so happy when I landed in the States again. I thought the worst was over and all I had to do now was get home.”
“I didn’t have any money, but my buddy and I scraped up enough so I could call my wife and tell her I was on my way. But when I did call, no one answered the phone. I figured she was out with my son on the farm with her parents. So, I waited until dinner time, and I called again. There was no answer. I started to get really scared that something happened to them. God wouldn’t make me survive a war and not let me see my family – that wouldn’t be right.”
✦ SHADOW DANCE
It started as a dance. It became a power struggle. Then something almost like love.
She was the last partner he wanted — too aloof, too unreadable, too unwilling to be led. But the more he watched her dance with the music — not just to it — the more obsessed he became. Shadow Dance is a taut, mesmerizing tale of connection, consent, and the slipperiness of attraction — a slow burn that ends with the music still playing.
EXCERPT:
He couldn’t help but notice her arms – so thin and fragile he could snap them apart like a KitKat bar. Her fingers reminded him of sharp, thin pencils. He could snap those too, if he wanted to, but he didn’t. Not yet.
She did not make eye contact with him. In fact, she never looked in his direction. Her gaze was transfixed on the dancers. Few seemed to pass her scrutiny, which made him wonder just exactly how good of a dancer did she think she might be.
Immediately, he sensed she wasn’t dancing with him. Although she was in his arms, it was clear she was dancing with the music, inside of the music, and around the music. He felt like a neglected member of a threesome: appreciated for his presence, but not really necessary.
When the dance ended, she thanked him politely, then walked away. He resisted the urge to pull her back – no one walked away from him – but she had, and surprisingly, he let her.
✦ IT’S DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Some children carry more than backpacks. They carry entire histories.
Every morning, she waited for the school bus — hair flying, voice raised, always keeping a protective hand on her younger brother. Years pass, but her watchful gaze never fades. It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again is a heartfelt reflection on responsibility, resilience, and the invisible threads that connect us across time and space.
EXCERPT:
On windy days, her waist-length black hair dances around her face. As she tries to capture her curls and pull them into a ponytail, she keeps a steady gaze on her younger brother. She can’t seem to stop fussing at him, adjusting his backpack, zipping up his jacket, or tugging his winter hat so far down his face he laughingly stalks around the sidewalk like Frankenstein’s monster. She’s devoid of humor and pulls him back close to her side. He pushes her away, neither needing nor wanting her maternal attention.
On more than one occasion, through the rolled down windows of my car as I drive past them, I hear her shouting, insisting that he stay close and away from the curb where more often than not, a 25 mph speed limit is more of a recommendation rather than the rule. She may not speak English, but there is no mistaking her intent.
A few years pass and they still take the school bus together. Now he’s the taller of the two, but that doesn’t stop her from fussing at him.
✦ THE BOY ON THE BOAT
Two immigrants. One photograph. A lifetime of wondering.
In 1954, a father takes a picture of his daughter on the deck of the Andrea Doria — white dress, red ribbons, a doll clutched to her chest. Just as he clicks the shutter, a boy wanders into the background. Decades later, each remembers the other. The Boy on the Boat is a tender, time-traveling duet between strangers whose lives briefly intersected on a transatlantic voyage.
EXCERPT:
I am the boy on the boat. The one standing in the background of the picture with the little girl.
She looks to be about two years old. She wears a white dress, white socks, and white shoes. Someone has carefully gathered her hair into two tight pigtails that now stand straight up on her head. They are wrapped in two red ribbons which are tied into bows. A red cardigan completes her outfit. She clutches a well-worn doll close to her tiny chest.
The focus of the photo – no pun intended – is that little girl. No doubt, her father wants a record of this moment that documents his daughter’s first sea voyage aboard the Andrea Doria. But I’m eight years old. I don’t pay attention, and I wander into the shot just as he clicks the camera. I am forever part of their story.
✦ TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
Some people didn't believe it was real. Until it was too late.
Set during the early days of a global shutdown, Truth or Consequences follows Carl — a man locked in his basement, his fears, and his refusal to listen. Above him, his wife Maureen works tirelessly at the hospital, doing what she’s done for 38 years: showing up, cleaning up, holding it together. Until she can’t. Raw, haunting, and unflinching, this story is a searing reminder that every decision — to act, to doubt, to love, or to ignore — carries a cost.
EXCERPT:
That year, there were no celebrations. No gatherings around the table for Thanksgiving. No multi-generations of families standing in a bitterly cold shopping mall parking lot at midnight ready to rumble over Black Friday deals. There were only endless days of confinement: staying home, staying in, and staying put.
Carl didn’t care. He wasn’t a social guy anyway. He was content to stay home and spend his days in the basement, hibernating in the man cave he had built when he retired two years ago. Everything he wanted was in there – the La-Z Boy recliner from the living room, the 55-inch TV, a refrigerator stocked with food and beer, an emergency kit, and his gun cabinet with three hunting rifles.
Recently, he had also purchased a handgun, but only to protect himself and his family. With all this talk of shortages and panic buying – you never knew what could happen. People panic. They lose their minds, you know? Assuming it was true, of course. Assuming any of it was true.
You just didn’t who to believe anymore.
Who could you trust?
✦ HEART-TO-HEART
Love. Loss. And a boy named Aiden.
Twelve-year-old heartbreak meets grandmotherly patience in Heart-to-Heart, a tender and witty snapshot of two generations, one kitchen, and the messy business of growing up — and growing older. As sauce simmers and questions deepen, a simple Saturday becomes something more: a chance to talk, to listen, and to share what really gets us through.
EXCERPT:
“Dad says not to text Aiden anymore until he texts me. What do you think?”
“I think your father is a very wise man.”
“But what do you think?”
“I wish I would have listened to my parents when they gave me the same advice.”
She’s quiet again. Then suddenly she bursts into tears. “If Aiden doesn’t text me, I’ll die!”
She drops a half-rolled meatball onto the floor and runs out of the kitchen.
“Oh no, my love, you won’t die,” I think to myself, “you’ll find a way to keep going.”
✦ IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR
Every December, the cast takes the stage. And every year, we hope the star still knows where to shine.
In It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, a theatre director-turned-nativity enthusiast lovingly stages her eclectic cast of figurines — shepherds, angels, wise men, and one very tired Mary — with the precision of a Broadway production. Between staging notes, spiritual musings, and cat-related catastrophes, she finds meaning in the imperfect pieces we keep. A joyful, wise, and slightly wobbly tribute to hope, holiday pageantry, and the sacred beauty of broken things.
EXCERPT:
I love driving around my neighborhood and looking at the nativity scenes communities set up in the parks, churches erect near their front doors, and families stage in their yards. Sometimes Mary is made of sturdy plastic, able to withstand a Midwest winter storm. Sometimes, she’s made of resin, terra cotta or wood. Almost always, she’s kneeling. Personally, I’d like to see her sitting on a stool, or a bale of hay, or something. I realize she’s just given birth to the Divine, but honestly, give the woman a break and let her sit for a minute.
REVIEWS FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES - VOLUME ONE
Amazon Review: Kaeth Shaughnessy 5.0 out of 5 stars I'm ready to read volume 2 Verified Purchase The variety of stories is artful. I want to know and visit some of these people. What happens next?
Amazon Review – Scott Tennant - 5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written book Verified Purchase I approached this book with high expectations, and I was delighted (though perhaps not especially surprised) when they were exceeded. The writing is exceptional, but more importantly, so is the author's insight into the human condition. I am already re-reading the book to see what I missed the first time through. Like many others, I'm anxiously awaiting Volume Two!
Amazon Review: Cindy - 5.0 out of 5 stars An Empathy Primer Research suggests reading fiction builds empathy by offering readers a chance to have first hand knowledge of someone else’s experience. In Katharine Tonti’s Other People’s Stories, I felt what it was like to be an Italian immigrant, a divorcee, widower, the boy on the boat, and more. Vignette’s into everyday lives facing all of what it means to be human. The collection of 24 stories both broadened and deepened my heart and has inspired me to act with kindness and care. I highly recommend.
Amazon Review – Joanne S. 5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Storytelling The stories are unique yet familiar. You feel as though you are transported into the events in these short stories….invoking feelings for the characters and yet, at the same time, taking me back to similar experiences or connections in my own life. Thoughtful, introspective, and incredibly well written. A gifted writer takes you through a journey on many different levels. Highly recommend.
Amazon Review – Kristen Manes - 5.0 out of 5 stars Snapshots of Life Itself I enjoyed reading this book...it was like taking a peek into everyday life through these thoughtful and descriptive essays. It was like having a friend read me their stories, letters, thoughts, or entries from their diary. It was a nice, quick read...perfect to take on a plane ride or weekend trip.
Amazon Review – Heather K. Gaynor - 5.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone From poetry to character-driven stories and narratives, this collection by Tonti has it all. The author has a way of creating prose that is so descriptive I found myself a true bystander to her tales. I loved this book and will be sharing it with others for years to come.
Goodreads - Alana Henderson-Bayzath - A wonderful collection of short stories and poems, filled with emotion that made me laugh and cry. The characters come to life, Katherine is a storyteller extraordinaire. I could not put it down!
Reviews have not been editedd/corrected.
