This collection of short stories is the latest offering from Galley Beggar Press. Not only did it come with the usual dedicated bookmark that these special editions are supplied with, it also came with a crushed dried flower. A very unusual touch indeed.
Unsurprisingly, since this is a debut collection, this is a new author for me. And I have to say that when she's good, she's very good indeed. There isn't a badly written story in the collection.
The book isn't without its faults though. As with a few non-genre short story collections I've read, there are a few stories that don't end, they just stop.
When I make that comment I'm reminded of the bit in Stephen King's novella "The Body" (filmed as Stand by Me) just after Jordy has told the story of Lardass Hogan and he's disappointed when his friends ask him what happened next. However, the story of Lardass Hogan tells of one particularly dramatic and memorable event. The stories in this collection that don't end just seem to be everyday slices of life that don't seem to have any particular point or meaning to them and I don't see the reason for stopping where they do.
They are extremely well written and a pleasure to read. They just frustratingly seem to suddenly sputter out. This seems to be typical in "literary" short fiction. It's my biggest complaint about the Paul Theroux short story collections I've got. Also the Jon McGregor short story collection, as much as I love his writing...
I love short fiction. I started on Ray Bradbury's short fiction when I was 12 and it showed me how amazing a good short story can be. But his stories have a distinct beginning, middle and end. Some of the stories here succeed on that front, but not all.
The Clinic is a great opening story but the first to frustrate me with the ending. It felt like the opening chapter of a much longer work. There was so much unanswered detail. Why is their child so advanced? Why do they feel the need to keep it hidden? Why take the extreme measures they do? But there are no answers, so as brilliant as it was while reading it, the end left me wanting. As an opening chapter this would be brilliant, you'd have me hooked, as it stands, it's sadly lacking.
My Brother is Back has a similar lack of detail, but the story feels more complete. We feel for Syed on his return to England after a mysterious incarceration on US shores. The ending to this feels natural, as he finally gets to relax and wait for the promise of normalcy to return.
Oh Whistle And... is the most interesting stylistically. It's written in lots of short freewheeling and not immediately obviously interlinked paragraphs. It efficiently builds the picture of a large group of people, none of whom are named with more than a single letter of the alphabet, and who are either monitoring or being monitored for their political/religious beliefs. A really interesting piece and possibly my favourite in the book. this style of freewheeling narrative is difficult to pull off but Gatward manages it here.
Beltane tells the vaguely threatening tale of a couple attending a rural festival in an English village. Another good story with a more natural feeling end.
The Bird - A couple return from their honeymoon to find a bird is trapped behind their fireplace and tapping tapping tapping at the back of their gas fire. Again, this is a strong story, mired in mataphor and symbols, and with a definite end.
On Margate Sands follows a pair of friends trying to find an old attraction one of them remembers seeing in Margate many years earlier. It's a sad little meditation of memory with a bittersweet feel. Another strong story.
The Creche - a day trip with the toddler group goes badly. This is another frustrating story. it was witty, funny, deeply insightful and then it just stopped... I'm not sure if it's just me that can't see the symbolism in the ending but I was enjoying this so much and there seemed no point when it finished.
Lurve - maybe I need to be more in with the fashionable crowd to get this one. It's the longest and one of my least favourite in the collection. It paints a good picture of a set of unlikeable self absorbed characters on the edge of the art crowd in London. Again, it just sputters out. Again, this could be a starting point for a much longer and deeply satisfying work.
Lammas - Again she tries a freewheeling approach to narrative. This jumps about all over the place, and time. Unfortunately, I don't think this one holds together particularly. The quality of the prose dips in this story too. The opening is florid to the point of being irritating. My least favorite in the book by a fair margin.
Samhain - I really don't quite know what to make of this one. It certainly ends on a vaguely threatening note. It seems deliberately obfuscated though. Lovely atmosphere built up, but I'd prefer to have a clear idea of what the ending was.
What's For You Won't Go By You - is the Ollie in this one of the characters from Lurve? I'm not sure. he seemed very similar. Another slice of life that seems too unfocussed with no real end. A pleasure to read still, just unsatisfying when it finished.
backgammon - the final story. An woman gets an insight into the possibly abusive relationship her friend is involved in. Again, this reads like the start of a longer piece. Although in this one, I can see how the end is a comment on how people leave awkward situations hanging because it's the easiest thing to do.
With only one exception, I thought the writing in all these stories was very good indeed. I would like to see her write in past tense a little more. All these stories are in the present tense. This makes it feel like there isn't much variety to the stories as the style rarely changes. That's only a minor quibble since it was never a chore to read any of it, in fact I took great pleasure from most of the stories. That makes it seem more of a shame that they feel unfocussed and unfinished at times.
I will certainly be checking out her next book when it comes out. maybe it will be the novel that at least one of these stories seems to want to be the start of.
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