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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Obsidian Poplar and Other Stories by Lightfall Literary Agency (Editor) (view source)
Revision as of 16:13, 29 August 2020
, 16:13, 29 August 2020no edit summary
''Legacy'' by A K Arling pinpoints the differences between two brothers when their father dies and they have to settle the estate. The story neatly encapsulates the different values of the men - and the level of suspicion that can surface. I was impressed too by the sense of place which the story gave. Laura O'Driscoll begins ''An Encounter'' with a classically catching sentence: ''I first met Tristan when he broke into my house to get an apple.'' What follows is a snapshot of two damaged people who might - together - make something of their lives.
I'll confess to having a favourite story - ''Reflections in a Mechanical Eye'' by L P Lee. The idea is brilliant - the robot with a mental problem - and the writing is excellent. If I had to pick an author to follow from the book then Lee would be the one. The next story - ''Folks'' by Madeline Kerr might have paled by comparison but the story of the Mennonite wedding reception catches the imagination. Kerr has a nice turn of phrase too: ''Mennonites are born knowing their place in a four-part harmony.''
Fergus Morgan's ''A Masterful Performance'' touched a nerve. It's the story of a man who is - on the surface - solid and secure but who is deeply lonely. Family, friends, colleagues all assume that he will not mind about their cavalier attitude to him. It's a particularly thought -provoking story. In ''Aspects in the Flower Garden'' by Paddy Scopes uses a discarded photograph to examine loss in different forms. Scopes has a talent for the apposite phrase: a woman who had taken a drink of water ''felt it in her stomach like a puddle''.
The collection closes with ''The Ballroom'' by Alice Ahearn, an understanding and sympathetic look at the problems of agingageing. I was pleased by the collection of stories - some are stronger than others, and some will be more to your taste, but none fell flat and I'm looking forward to the next collection of new voices.
For an established writer of short stories , we can recommend [[Lying Under the Apple Tree by Alice Munro]].
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