Michael Parker

In 1813, Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Aaron Burr, is on a ship that is attacked by pirates and she is left for dead on a small island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A hermit nurses her back to health and protects her as she embarks on a new life. In 1970, her descendents are among the only remaining residents of the same island.

"The O. Henry Prize Stories 2015 gathers twenty of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. The winning stories span the globe - from the glamorous Riviera to an Eastern European shtetl, from a Native American reservation to a tiny village in Thailand. But their characters are universally recognizable and utterly compelling, whether they are ex-pats in Africa, migrant workers crossing the Mexican...

When Chris' best friend Annie loses her husband, Chris derives a scheme to memorialize him. The two women, along with some of their friends - all fiftysomething women - will make a nude calendar to raise money for the hospital where he died. The calendar becomes hugely popular. Based on actual events.