Brought back into print by Pushkin Press, Madeleine Bourdouxhe’s 1944 short story collection highlights the lives of conflicted female characters in beautiful prose.
Short Stories
THE CLASSICS CLUB: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
I share my thoughts on a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
THOUGHTS ON: Public library and other stories
A splendidly inventive collection of short stories from Ali Smith, author of How to be both, winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize and the Costa Novel Award.
BOOK REVIEW: The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man: Essential Stories
A collection of Franz Kafka’s short stories showcasing his dark imagination and wry humour.
1944 CLUB: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Collaborative book blogging: my contribution to the 1944 Club.
BOOK REVIEW: The Cake Tree in the Ruins
A necessarily brief review (I’m posting this from a sandy beach in Cyprus) of a dark but inventive short story collection set on 15th August 1945 – the day Japan surrendered and the Second World War formerly ended.
THOUGHTS ON: 24 Stories: of Hope for Survivors of the Grenfell Tower Fire
We look at an anthology of short stories written on themes of community and hope by a mix of the UK’s best known writers and previously unpublished authors, whose pieces were chosen by Kathy Burke from over 250 entries.
1977 CLUB: Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams by Sylvia Plath
Collaborative book blogging: My last minute contribution to the 1977 Club.
BOOK REVIEW: Ayiti
This debut collection from Roxane Gay is a unique blend of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, all interwoven to represent the Haitian diaspora experience.
THOUGHTS ON: ‘A House of Pomegranates’
A House of Pomegranates is a collection of whimsical short stories by Oscar Wilde.
BOOK REVIEW: Her Body and Other Parties
Carmen Maria Machado’s debut short story collection has marked her out as an effervescent talent in fermentation.
SHORT FICTION REVIEW: The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere
A heart-warming and original short story.
BOOK REVIEW: The Reservoir Tapes
Set in a rural village in England’s Peak District – an upland area at the southern end of the Pennines – The Reservoir Tapes was first aired on BBC Radio 4 as a specially commissioned short fiction series.
BOOK REVIEW: Stories: The Collected Short Fiction
There are no weak parts to Helen Garner’s collection – it is simply that some stories are more brilliant than others.
Cursory Comments on ‘Cat Person’
A controversial 4,000 word tale by Kristen Roupenian has appeared in The New Yorker.
BOOK REVIEW: A Maigret Christmas
A Maigret Christmas is the title story from a newly translated book of short stories in which the burly detective receives an unexpected visit from two ladies on Christmas morning.
THOUGHTS ON: Grimm’s Fairy Stories
Taken from the East European oral tradition, these stories were originally collated and published in Germany by the Brothers Grimm.
THOUGHTS ON: Me Again: Uncollected Writings Of Stevie Smith
Florence Margaret Smith (1902-1971), known to friends and readers as Stevie Smith, was a highly witty English writer, most famous for her perceptive, clever little poems.
THOUGHTS ON: The Awakening: And Other Stories
This short but impassioned novel, first published at the turn of the 19th century, portrays a new way of thinking; a dissension among the women of North America and Europe, which caused excitement and consternation in equal measures.
