Mark Stark

Essence Mark Stark

Mystery, simplicity, silence, personal space, rich sensory experience, authenticity, a glimpse of the infinite, love. These qualities describe this work of literary fiction, Essence. In the vein of Baricco's international bestseller Silk, it is about a modern day book dealer, M., who discovers a handful of letters and journal entries dated from the early 1920's. They partially reveal the story of a young couple from different classes who risked a clandestine love affair and died as a result of their struggle to be together. M. connects with their story and investigates while his imagination starts filling in the missing gaps. Told as a series of short chapters which are glimpses of important moments and events, real or imagined, this distilled form gives the story ample white space and allows the individual chapters to resonate, stimulating the reader's own imagination. Meditative and even dream-like in nature, Essence is ultimately a call to turn inward.