THE KNEELING BUS by Beverly Coyle...

THE KNEELING BUS by Beverly Coyle (Penguin: $9). The eight linked short stories in this collection trace the coming-of-age of Carrie Willis, a Methodist minister’s daughter in Florida during the 1950s. An exaggerated awareness of religion and the nature of her father’s calling distort her childhood, as the gravitational pull of a star warps the space that surrounds it. Cut off from other children, Carrie studies her well-intentioned but emotionally distant mother, and contrasts her behavior with the deportment of women she perceives as more glamorous, competent and poised. Watching her mother during a visit from Norma Fulmore, a wealthy parishioner, Carrie observes, “Mom would pull herself a little higher in her chair for most of the evening. She didn’t try to perfect Norma’s posture, but she partook of the genre.” Coyle’s characters are vivid and credible, although the narrative falters in the story “Doctor Norman Vincent Peale,” which features a con man who may or may not really know the author of “The Power of Positive Thinking.”