Ripple Effects and Other Stories (Golden Antelope Press, 2026) is a new short story collection from 1996 Boston College graduate Lesley Mahoney O’Connell. The volume showcases 11 short stories featuring quiet but intelligent characters who see themselves as outsiders in their own worlds. Mostly set in New England coastal villages, O’Connell’s stories are connected by nuanced water motifs. At their core, these stories hint at the strength and hope which can arise in disheartening circumstances. O’Connell’s fiction has appeared in Post Road, Psychopomp, and Solstice.