Zenna Henderson (1917–1983)

The second in Henderson's tales of the People, aliens who crashlanded on earth and have to fit in despite their psychic abilities. No school teachers this time (the first book heavily featured teachers, probably because Henderson herself was one), but the framing is evident again, with a couple of humans who feature in the first story being shown what has happened to the people at various times, going back to why/when they left their world.

Although some of the description is vivid, I find it unconvincing in places because some of the stories are actually the recollections of humans who encounter individuals of the People, not the People (who have race memory recall) themselves, and I find it hard to picture how they can have word by word recall of what human beings felt, especially as those narratives start before they encounter one of the People.

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Re-read
My review above stands. I would only add that in one of the later stories, the woman of the People narrating the story is an absolute brat, possibly the author's reaction to the general perception that the People are all absolute paragons of virtue in the majority of stories in this and its predecessor, 'Pilgrimage'. And even so, I didn't really buy the Jemmy character, met in several tales before, stranding a heavily pregnant woman in a flood.

The other point I would make is to add a trigger warning regarding infant mortality because that is a major plot point in two of the stories. As before, my rating is an OK 2 stars.… (more)

The first in Henderson's books about 'The People', aliens who crashlanded a spaceship on earth and had to fit in although they have psychic abilities such as telepathy etc. It is really a set of short stories given a connective frame - a depressed young woman, Lea, is saved from committing suicide by Karen, one of the People, and taken to their main settlement where every night community members share memories in preparation for some (unspecified till the last such sharing) event. Interesting in parts, but a bit repetitive in the sense that a lot of the tales centre around teachers in small isolated towns - wasn't suprised when I googled the author, to find that she was an elementary school teacher.

***** Re-read *****
My impression on the re-read is much the same. The best story is the one where a human woman called Dita (a teacher of course) is staying in a boarding house and gradually kindles a romance with a man who turns out to be one of the People who lost his parents when young and doesn't know how to find the settlement where most of them live. Dita herself is a misfit because she is a rare human who was born with psychic powers, although these differ from those of the People. That story was quite nicely prickly and natural in the development of the relationship and in the interaction with the curmudgeonly landlady of the boarding house.

The last story is confusing because it deals with People coming to Earth from another planet where they settled, to take away anyone who wants to go back with them - the framing structure is lost at that point because it seems the viewpoint character is departing on a spaceship at the end as if that has already happened rather than being impending. So the story of Lea is lost at that point. I think on balance the 'OK' 2 star rating stands.… (more)

Not a brilliant review: The People, from another planet that was destroyed, look human but have powers we earthlings don't have and are much better than we are. One woman, unlike all the others we learn about, is haughty and selfish and self-centered---and grieving and pregnant---until she realizes how wrong her behavior is; she seems unrealistic to me. All the others have evolved; there are hints of a difficult past and science-related abilities that had to be relearned in order for them to travel in space. (Unless that was in the first book. This is the second book of the series, composed of short stories (based on the list of copyright dates.))
Some humans have done terrible things to them, reminiscent of pogroms and other massacres. The action seems to take place in the American Southwest. The People are very religious, and connect to our Bible (which I assume was not available on their planet). They can sense when they are about to die and are very accepting of death; it's unusual to find a science fiction book with faith such an important part of the characters.… (more)

I first read these stories years ago, in junior high, or perhaps earlier. I didn't completely understand everything, but loved the idea of the People, a group of superhuman alien refugees here on planet Earth. Reading these stories again as an adult, I appreciate the net positivity of the stories, the spiritual underlayment (although I am not religious myself) because the People walk their talk, and many of the stories deal with Outsiders (usually so-called Christians) who hate and fear the People for their differences. Many of the stories feature teachers and children. The author was herself a teacher, and these stories ring with authenticity. Some are a bit slow by today's standards, and a bit dated, but I still really like them. The prose is lovely without pulling attention from the narrative, and the nuances of character are on the page, and now as a writer myself I can appreciate the craft that went into these tales.… (more)