Narcissi: A Novel
By Babette Fraser Hale
Women’s Fiction / Texas Fiction
Publisher: Winedale Publishing
Publication Date: October 15, 2026
*** SYNOPSIS ***
Ten women fall for Cole Burnett, a traveling Texas writer. He is the kind of man whose need for freedom should send lovers running in the opposite direction. But he has a lanky charisma and the gift of listening, rare enough at any time. The women he encounters in Narcissi, a novel-in-stories, find his attention compelling, and they all get hurt, or cause hurt. But hurt is never the whole story.
Each woman brings her own complicated life into her time with Cole, conflicts with husbands, traumas survived, needs postponed, children. And children grow up with questions.
Burnett understands that loneliness compels him toward the women he meets. But none of them seems to reach where the loneliness resides, where whatever’s missing pushes him to keep moving, to find a purpose for his future. Later, after a death threat, traveling becomes a way to stay alive.
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*** REVIEW ***
Narcissi is the plural form of narcissus, referring to a genus of spring-blooming perennial bulb flowers that includes daffodils and jonquils. The flowers play a small, but significant role in the story. A fun little detail that I came to appreciate more as I read, and I encourage each new reader to take the time to find the little ways the flowers impact the story.
At first, I had a hard time embracing Cole as a sympathetic character because of his almost cavalier approach to having sex with many women. On the other hand, he is always kind to the women he meets and sympathetic to their traumas, so he does rise above a mere philandering man.
The novel’s underlying theme is self-discovery. Can the characters look at themselves in a truly honest way and endeavor to change some behaviors. Cole is challenged at one point when one of the ladies he is with says, “You give the impression of caring, Cole. How deep does that go?”
Up to that point he’d always justified his one-night, or more, stands with various women with the belief that he’s a good man, a good partner, because he cares about the women the way their husbands or other lovers don’t.
When issued this challenge he has to find out if that belief holds water.
Cole’s ability to see beyond the surface of people is a real asset for his career as a journalist writing human-interest stories. “He has studied people his whole life out of a deep desire to understand why men and women do what they do, in general and to each other. So often they have no idea of the consequences, or the sideways damage. As he himself does not much of the time.”
That final sentence in that quote from the narration is an excellent example of him acknowledging one of his shortcomings, but the earlier part reflects the driving force of Cole’s work. I could relate. As a writer I’ve also had a deep desire to understand the motives and actions of people who often do extraordinary things for good and for evil.
I could also relate to his reluctance to having to speak and/or be interviewed. It’s clear in the narrative that he’s more content to find and write the story than having to talk about it. This is highlighted in this quote which is his reaction to being at a literary event where he has to speak. “He considers such evenings a trial. The format places the focus on the writers, instead of the books. In his view the most interesting thoughts a writer has are usually what they’ve written down, not what they think of to say in a situation like this.”
Like the author’s previous book, A Wall of Bright Dead Feathers, that I thoroughly enjoyed, the storyline in Narcissi doesn’t follow a straight path from beginning to end, but what may seem a little confusing at first quickly sorts itself out.
There is so much to enjoy in this tale, including narrative rich in lovely language and unique descriptions. Just one example is this quote referencing a couple slow-dancing. They “wrapped themselves together tight as two socks in a drawer.”
Babette Fraser Hale has a terrific way of weaving a complex story with lots of threads into a most satisfying read, and Narcissi is a tale not to be missed.
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*** WATCH THE REEL ***
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*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR ***
Babette Hale is the author of A Wall of Bright Dead Feathers, winner of the 2022 Troncoso Award for debut fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, and a memoir, This Familiar Heart, about her relationship with her late husband, Leon Hale. In addition to writing fiction, she has been a magazine feature writer, columnist, book editor, publisher and part owner of a bookstore. She lives in Texas and is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.
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