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Revision as of 09:56, 18 September 2020
, 09:56, 18 September 2020no edit summary
''Something to Do'' is the novella. We stay with writing as a theme as Graham Randall, an ordinary man, decides that he wants to become a writer. As the story opens we know that he's inured to rejection by publishers and that his fortunes are not going to improve. His obsession with an old flame isn't going to help either situation. The titular story, ''Toby's Little Eden'' is perhaps the best of the collection and features a healthy young man who is happy to be isolated in his garden in north London – until a young housekeeper arrives on the scene. His mother wanted to shake him out of his attitudes, but will she perhaps regret the method she's used?
My favourite story is ''Found Wanting''. It's something of a shock to Bob when he finds that his wife has a history as a prostitute – well, she'd have called herself an escort girl – but when money is tight and he tires of working in a petrol filling station he tries to nudge her back into the work, but has she already been thinking along those lines herself? Bob and Theresa are two characters who come straight off the page and there's no problem in working out which one you'd prefer to meet.
The sketches of the ground staff at the golf club were well-pitched (no pun intended) and captures captured the atmosphere of a golf club perfectly. There were several occasions when I laughed out loud and there was at least a wry smile for each story, but I was left with the feeling that, good as the material was, it could have been better used in a wider-ranging story.
There's a lot of promise in this debut collection. It's let down by inadequate editing which would have corrected the numerous grammatical problems and the occasional over-use of literary devices. These are relatively minor points which can be corrected and we hope that we'll see more from John Flannery in the future.
We'd like to thank the publisher for sending a copy to the Bookbag. We also have a review of [[Our Little Secret and Other Stories by John E Flannery]].
If this book appeals then you might enjoy [[The Vernham Chronicles by John Saunders]].
