"The title of this collection of stories is richly ambiguous. The stories themselves function symphonically, not only because they are linguistically musical, but because themes appear and reappear in different keys, different tempos, different weathers, different life stages. Turbulent weather (internal and external) are the aspects of nature most closely explored by Green and her range is orchestral in scope and subject matter. Music and memory are central." Click to read the entire review.
Janette Turner Hospital
author

"The final book from Inanna Publications is Rhoda Rabinowitz Green's Aspects of Nature, a collection of short stories ranging from 1993 to the present in their publications dates. Of the first three stories centring on music, the third one, Finding Maryan," focuses on Maryan Filar, a musician who came to Philadelphia in the 1950s; the young girl who studied with him recounts the taut dramatic story. " Click to read the entire review.
University of Toronto Quarterly;
Volume 87, Number 3, Summer 2018:

"In Aspects of Nature Rhoda Rabinowitz Green has written eleven exquisite short stories that take us into the worlds of music, memory, survival, aging gracefully and sometimes kicking and screaming with full fury. She writes with compassion and sensitivity of the minutiae of being a woman in today's world which sometimes might be a world that is passing by. Every woman will understand. Every man will be enlightened. And in a few cases you will be justifiably infuriated." Click to read the entire review.
Lynn Slotkin, Critic
The Slotkin Letter, October 17, 2017

"Aspects of Nature" by Rhoda Green is a frank and honest collection of short stories by a sensitive and talented writer. By telling her own personal experiences, Rhoda is able to capture the universal aspects of life – from youth and aging, to love and family, to death and spirituality. Covering a broad emotional range of tenderness, frustration, fear, humour, joy and fulfillment, this book, like all good reads, will stay with you long after putting it down."
Rick Phillips
former Host of Sound Advice on CBC Radio

Note from Rhoda: Amidst the sadness, and knowing what is inevitably ahead, there are moments of great joy and closeness. One such moment was when my husband, Joe Green (deceased February 2017) was able to attend my RCM interview with CBC's Rick Phillips. We even got to celebrate our 60th anniversary together!

"I have just finished reading your "age appropriate" stories, which I thoroughly enjoyed. They are smart, touching, funny, profound, and very musical, both in tone and subject matter. Your characters are strong, intelligent, and capable of controlling their own destinies. A deliciously unique, compelling, fast paced collection." Click to read the entire review.
Mariel O'Neill Karch
Professor French Literature, University of Toronto

"These stories show a rare and sympathetic nature at work. Each carves its own world in language, the mordant humour omnipresent but never intrusive, the dialogue at times pitch perfect (a rare gift). The stories are memorable for the insights, images, beauty that they capture and convey in words. These are infinitely human stories (death is never very far from any of the characters' thoughts) with perhaps memory, mutability, mortality, the most central of their concerns. With the publication of this book, Canadian literature gains a fresh, new voice, a voice to be listened to and praised. Bravo, as they say in that art of all arts."
Matthew Corrigan
Senior Scholar, Professor Emeritus, Humanities and Creative Writing
York University

". . . I've been reading your stories, one at a time, savouring them like a box of rich chocolates. Some stories, like"Finding Maryan", I've read twice. I'm so impressed with the quality of your writing. Matthew (Corrigan) is right when he says "at times pitch perfect" Click to read the entire review.
Jo-Anne St. James
Writer, Editor, Gores Landing, Ontario

"These stories are a treat: by turns tart and sweet, they investigate with a trenchant eye the landscapes of memory and of loss and the eternal quest for identity".
Rick Archbold
writer

"I've read Aspects of Nature. You are pure genius! It is deep, thoughtful, and insightful and your narrative and descriptive passages put me right there. The stories unfold chronologically and they spiral back again, holding the tale tightly together. You have impressed this friend (me) and I'm proud to know you. The levels of understanding are awesome."
Brenda Silver
educator

"Your 11 short stories exhibit a tremendous, insightful talent. I have finished reading every word, including just now the claim that it is a work of fiction, no resemblance to persons living or dead. That surprised me because in some of the stories I suspected they were autobiographical. Especially 'The Wind at Her Back'. So I looked again at that and found your note at the end. But...you couldn't know that much about music without having lived it! 'Finding Maryan' - I almost couldn't read parts of it with the horror of the Nazis wickedness against a brave and talented people. Your insight, ability to describe appearance and feelings are all so impressive, quite unlike anything I have ever read. ' 'Shyandeleh's Real Estate' with its very real words of 'Three years, three months, three days. There's only the distant past, no now now' is another example of your understanding of another stage of life. That we are readers only of non-fiction - news, politics, makes me all the more impressed with your sensitivity to human beings and their feelings."
Eleanor Fina

"Only a Jewish woman pianist could have written the haunting, moving and illuminating collection of short stories gathered in Aspects of Nature. Haunting because of the recurrent reminders of the Holocaust, the ravishes of age and the inescapable shadow of death. Moving as it exposes the frustrations and heartbreak of the lives of ordinary people like ourselves. Illuminating as it reveals to the listener the passions and struggles of the aspiring and talented musician. And presented with rich language diversity to tell these tales. As the last page is turned, the reader asks, why has it taken so long for such a gifted author to be published?"
Thomas Fina
Retired Foreign Service Officer

"I have thoroughly enjoyed Aspects of Nature. The story, "Finding Maryan" is a sensitive, loving, complex and layered portrait of a prominent musician, who was a mentor and had a profound influence on the author. We see Professor Filar through the author's eyes and follow her journey as she matures and he ages. I admire the author's skill in making characters come alive. The voice is very clear and resonant, the descriptions engaging and often with an undercurrent of sly humour and irony e.g. about aging, and in stories such as "The Day of the Gorgon."
Yvonne Singer
Associate Professor, School of the Arts, York University

"I have been immensely impressed with the intelligence and subtlety of" Rhoda's work. I do urge that it be given a serious reading. I can guarantee it will be worth your while.
Janette Turner Hospital