Cover of Nightjar

Nightjar

A stunning collection of stories from the prizewinning author, about the power of unexpected intuitions in ordinary lives

 Sample

Get 30 days of Standard free

€5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for €0.00
More purchase options

Nightjar

By: Emily Ruskovich
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, Emma Ladji, Jay Myers, Ellen Adair
Try for €0.00

€5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for €17.71

Buy Now for €17.71

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.

A stunning collection of stories that explore the rural landscape of the far Northwestern US, and how unexpected intuitions forever alter the lives of ordinary people, From the critically acclaimed, prizewinning author of Idaho

Four years after moving into the isolated house in rural Oregon where her husband lived as a child, the protagonist of 'Victor’s Room' begins to doubt her husband’s account of his family’s past. In 'Round Lake', a young woman’s plans to meet a lover in Tokyo are upended when she learns a startling truth about her mother’s death. In 'Owl', a fur trapper reckons with the dreadful origins of his marriage after his wife is brutally injured by four adolescent boys.

Haunting and psychologically provocative, and set against the vivid backdrop of the rural Northwestern US, Nightjar illuminates the secret, instinctive knowledge that lies just under the surface of our awareness.

'Exquisite short stories. They disturb, delight and linger long after finishing' LOUISE KENNEDY
'To read Emily Ruskovich is to unwrap a gift' PAULA HAWKINS

© Emily Ruskovich 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Anthologies & Short Stories Genre Fiction Small Town & Rural United States World Literature
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Reviews

These are exquisite short stories. They disturb, delight and linger long after finishing (LOUISE KENNEDY, author of Trespasses)
To read Emily Ruskovich is to unwrap a gift: her stories are surprising, rewarding, beautiful. There are strange love affairs, hearts gently breaking, cherished childhood memories that turn out to be untrue; in clear and distinctive prose, she evokes the epic scope of quiet lives (PAULA HAWKINS)
Slow, quiet and graceful, these exceptional stories from the author of Idaho are exquisite... the tales are haunted by unsettling, unreliable memories and characters who grapple with uneasy truths (Eithne Farry)
Another daring, immersive achievement by Emily Ruskovich... beautifully crafted, lyrical prose with enough vibrant realism to burn character and story deep into your mind, but unhinged enough to disquiet and invite reflection (Helena Mulkerns)
Ruskovich’s writing tows the line between subtly quiet and ferociously triumphant, as each story introduces us to characters so complicated and thorny that they might as well be real… haunting, riveting, and an absolute gift (Chicago Review of Books)
These are marvelous and unsettling stories. Ruskovich’s prose is lambent, the relationships between her characters are thorny, complex, and mesmerizing, and the shapes of her stories constantly surprise. I loved Nightjar (KELLY LINK, author of The Book of Love)
In spare, lovely prose, Ruskovich writes a collection of five linked literary stories set in the Pacific Northwest wilderness
Ruskovich blends urgent pacing with lush wooded scenery and intimate psychological details. It’s a marvel
In this exquisitely tailored collection of five stories, Ruskovich plumbs the depths of mystery, memory, and the quiet grief of intimacy... Like Idaho, this book has a compelling slipperiness, both in time and reality... A portal to a haunting, liminal Pacific Northwest
Some books whisper instead of shout. Nightjar is one of them… the kind of collection that asks you to slow down and simply exist inside its atmosphere
No reviews yet