Author Elizabeth Spencer is starting again if not starting over with her book of short stories. She has written several novels and short stories beginning in 1948, but Starting Over is her first work in over ten years. Lee Smith comments on Spencer's short stories as "...light as air; they hover in the mind like hummingbirds."In "Boy in the Tree", Wallace is torn between his mother and his wife. Mother is determined to remain independent in spite of living away from town, her aging issues, and her supposedly seeing things that are not there. Wallace's wife believes Mother "has gone around the bend" and should be in a retirement community.
Wallace remembers fondly his mother's strengths and love while apparently experiencing her weakness of seeing things that can't be there.
In "Everlasting Light" a father is somewhat embarrassed to adore his daughter just the way she is.
In "Christmas Longings" Sonia remembers the magic of a family Christmas time of forty years before. Her husband tries to convince her that her memories are exaggerated.
Spencer's Starting Over gives a glimpse into family life with its trials and its fits and starts.
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