SOURCE: “The Life Journey of a ‘Roadwalker,’” in Christian Science Monitor, Vol. 86, August 1, 1994, p. 13.

In the following review, Rubin discusses the features of Grau's style and craftsmanship in Roadwalkers.

Roadwalkers is Shirley Ann Grau's ninth book. Her first, The Black Prince and Other Stories, came out in 1955. Three books and 10 years later, she won a Pulitzer Prize with her novel The Keepers of the House. Following her 1977 novel, Evidence of Love, there was a seven-year hiatus before the appearance of her story collection Nine Women, and nine years have intervened between that book and this new one.

A writer who only speaks when she's sure she has something to say? A conscientious craftswoman who takes time to polish and refine her work? Shirley Ann Grau would seem to answer to both descriptions. But the rate at which her books appear also seems connected to a sort of slow-motion...