BOOKS | Shovels & Chandeliers

Combray House Books, 2026

Cover & frontispiece art by Barbara Takenaga

Published: Spring 2026
Pre-order copies wherever fine books are sold.

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Shovels & Chandeliers

“The lucid grace of Laura Chester’s writing is always a singular pleasure.”

—Robert Creeley, poet

Laura Chester has consistently been praised for her hypnotic literary technique, liberating ethos and feminine metaphysic, with desire pulsating in the everyday. SHOVELS & CHANDELIERS, a collaged selection of prose and poetry, presents her at her very best, confirming what the poet Robert Creeley had to say — “The lucid grace of Laura Chester’s writing is always a singular pleasure.”

THE STONE BABY: “Chester deftly and completely captures the innards of the relationships between men and women, between children and mother, among friends and lovers—I was left breathless. The writing is terrific. More than once, I found myself stopping mid-sentence to re-read a particularly brilliant part. Chester has told my story, practically moment by moment. She has told the story of almost every woman I know…Wonderful, wonderful.”

—Marie Harris, poet laureate for New Hampshire

WATERMARK: “What stands out is the natural flowing sound and seamless coherence of the prose, an extraordinary quality these days… A fine achievement. I’m delighted.”

—Carl Rakosi, poet

STORY OF THE LAKE: “Chester’s vibrant, sprawling saga has much in common with Margaet Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. The historical scope is wide, the cast of characters epic… a daunting accomplishment. We are in the hands of a highly omniscient narrator, who is especially intriguing when exploring the minds and motivations of her female characters—such as the infamous Alicia Bosquet, the Scarlett O’Hara of the 20th Century Midwest.”

—Jenny McPhee, New York Newsday

“THE STORY OF THE LAKE: is a fully created world. The characters and events are drawn with such clarity that we will all see ourselves in them. This is a book to curl up with. Pray for rain.”

—Sherril Jaffe

IN THE ZONE: “This is powerful stuff, often beautifully obscure, with undercurrents that constantly tug at the shoals of sanity.”

—Marie Kuda, Booklist

BITCHES RIDE ALONE: “A masterful collection of new work from a time-tested author.”

—Kirkus Review

LUPUS NOVICE: “Congratulations to poet/novelist Laura Chester on this well-written and affecting account of a woman’s struggle with life-threatening illness, self-knowledge and cure.”

—Anne Rice, author

“Laura’s book LUPUS NOVICE deserves to be read by all those dealing with illness. She shows us how disease can be utilized to redirect our life and find healing. Instead of ‘Why me?’ she shows us how to say, ‘Try me!’”

—Bernie S. Siegel, M.D. author of Love, Medicine & Miracles

LUPUS NOVICE: “Laura Chester has written a moving and significant book. On one level, she discusses her personal odyssey through the realm of a serious disease. On another level she speaks to the esoteric, an initiation into a deeper level of self. She is an artist more than a patient. The book is not only a personal mythology but the transformation of a novice into healer.”

—Richard Grossinger, Planet Medicine

KINGDOM COME: “Chester depicts the randomness of the universe as a life-shattering force in this deeply satisfying and mature work.”

—Booklist

KINGDOM COME: “A hypnotic literary technique, a liberating ethic and a feminine metaphysic, desire pulsating in the everyday. The sheer accuracy of her prose entices the reader to take this art purely on its own terms.”

—Eric Mendelson, American Book Review

KINGDOM COME: “This is one beautiful, well-written midlife coming-of-age novel that’s worth having on your shelf.”

—Rachel Barenblat

RISING TIDES: “It is the poetry of today, and the poetry of woman at a crucial period of evolution. The selection is wide. It will place poetry as a daily necessity, as nourishment, indispensable… The fusion here is in the voice of woman. We need to know her better. Let us approach her and listen to her in these condensed, in these concentrated and distilled messages, to become intimate with her.”

—Anaïs Nin

THE STONE BABY: “It is a fine achievement, the best thing of its kind since Elizabeth Bowen. If Bowen were still alive, she might envy the frankness with which Chester is able to write about sex, childbirth, and the gut-tugging bond between mother and child.”

—Michael Upchurch, San Francisco Chronicle Examiner

“In HOLY PERSONAL two dozen devout souls speak about their handmade sanctuaries. It is clear water from the artesian well. From a Moonlodge in New Mexico to a Sandstone Cathedral, to a Garage Chapel, we follow the artistic devotions of those not bound by the doctrinaire but are instead freshly cut by the thorns of the Mystical Rose, who are overflowing with gratitude—this last being one of the holy proofs that Spirit has in fact visited the longing soul. The photographs by Donna DeMari are worthy of long meditations.”

—Clarissa Pinkola Estes for The Bloomsbury Review

HOLY PERSONAL: “To me this book is a compendium of holy magic, a lost yet vital art for anyone who would take religion out of the attic of intellectualism, down to the earthen floor of felt and meaningful spirituality. Laura’s book represents the best way of doing theology— keeping it relentlessly human and thoroughly concrete… The ultimate effect of a worthy spiritual life would be beautiful lives in a beautiful world. This beautiful book is an excellent start.”

—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul; Soul Mates; and Dark Nights of the Soul

DEEP DOWN: “A veritable Who’s Who of contemporary women writers.”

—Belles Lettres

“As delicious and diverse as a box of chocolate, DEEP DOWN’s poems and prose ooze with pleasure.”

—New Directions for Women

“RANCHO WEIRDO is a wonderful book and will thoroughly enliven any reader of serious fiction.”

—Jim Harrison