Morgan Christie has built a reputation for conveying insightful ideas about authentic human experiences through various literary forms such as poetry, autobiographical essays, and fiction. Her talent for vividly capturing complex emotions and situations keeps readers engaged. In regards to fiction, Christie’s works often blur the lines between imagination and reality, with characters and situations that feel rooted in actual life experiences, even though they are fictional.
Christie’s latest work, People Without Wings – a collection of three fictional tales, aptly demonstrates her gifts as a writer, with each story exploring impactful human experiences like bereavement, identity, mental health, learning to live with loss, and retaining positivity through difficult circumstances. Despite the stories springing from the creative ether, Christie renders her characters so genuine that readers are prone to forget they solely exist within the book’s pages.
People Without Wings consists of three stories, “Warbird,” “Rainbow Parachute,” and “How to Eat Marzipan.” Each story brings readers into the heart of confronting life’s hardships.
“Warbird” enters the world of characters living in a time where the government conducts human experiments to create militarized “super soldiers” with wings, who can fly. The narrative follows Jhonti, one such soldier, as they escape this horrific program and reunites with their former veterinarian, Albert. He helps care for them as Jhonti copes with their past trauma. The story peels back the layers of identity while also exploring the fundamental question of what provides purpose in life when control has been stripped away.
In “Rainbow Parachutes,” readers are immediately brought into Dyana’s struggle with severe depression. Although the root cause is initially unclear, Dyana’s grief over her newly adopted puppy, who dies unexpectedly, is ultimately revealed as the catalyst for this heightened depression. Dyana had deeply bonded with her new puppy; so when he died unexpectedly, she experienced intense grief that compounded earlier depression she had confided to her mother about, who was familiar with Dyana’s episodic bouts of grief from having raised her. Trying to regain control and passion for life, Dyana attempts to confront her feelings by taking up the extreme hobby of skydiving, progressing to her first solo jump. In that pivotal moment, just as the parachute strings jerk her upward through the air, Dyana comes to grips with her grief, realizing she is not confined to an endless descent.
“How to Eat Marzipan” follows Jamika, after the tragic death of her grandparents, as she chains a mysterious stranger named Hope in her room with the intention to force feed her marzipan and other daily desserts. The story builds on elements of surreal realism – later revealing that Hope embodies the loss of Jamika’s own sense of hope following her grandparents’ deaths and her subsequent isolation. It examines Jamika’s complex grieving process and her methods of attempting to regain optimism.
While wholly fictional, these stories speak to deeper core truths about being human. Christie has a talent for showcasing the strength buried inside of all of us as we recognize our lowest emotional points, often giving birth to our greatest transformations.
About the Author
Morgan Christie is an award-winning writer recognized across numerous literary publications, such as the Callaloo, Room, Prism International, and the Obsidian. Christie’s work has attracted the attention of leading media outlets including BuzzFeed News, Poets&Writers, London Post, LA Weekly and others. She continues to use her talents to spotlight truths and bring to light issues across marginalized communities. People Without Wings contributes to her collection of introspective literature, exploring personal growth during times of crisis.
Morgan Christie’s People Without Wings: https://digging-press.myshopify.com/products/people-without-wings-by-morgan-christie
Morgan Christie’s Website: https://www.morganchristiewrites.com/