Helen Ivory’s fifth collection from Bloodaxe, ‘The Anatomical Venus’ is a stark and possessing exhibition of female abuse throughout history. In these poems we witness women as ‘other’, she or her who is alienated for her body’s ability to birth and bleed, and objectified for her gender aesthetics. We find here the Venus, the doll,
Baron Von Luneberg, flight commander, iron cross recipient and celebrated war hero of the auspicious Luftwaffe finished loading the reconnaissance plane with looted nazi gold bullion. The war still raged towards Berlin, allied occupying forces were now pushing with impunity toward the command centres of the failed Third Reich. Luneberg, a descendent of Germanic aristocracy
An exceptional woman, Lynette managed to convince everyone that “better judgment” was a concept predicated in nonsense. She knew how to have fun. That’s her—over there with the tie-dye shawl, kicking it up at the beach with her typical aplomb. She’d be the first to remove her bra, climb on a stranger’s shoulders “piggy-back,” and
Transforming the mundane into something intriguing, ‘Above the Fat’ is a wonderfully weird collection of short stories which slowly pulls readers in with obscure plots and layered characters. Chadwick has a skill for spotting the strange in something that could be so ordinary, presenting us with odd tales where the characters rarely have a traditionally
“There it is,” William said when Cheryl got home, pushing the gingerbread house toward her across the kitchen counter. “We made it at the Managers’ Meeting.” Cheryl slid off her boots and hung up her jacket. “Wish I had a job like that.” “It’s team building.” “Looks pretty good though.” “You should’ve seen Dan’s,” William
I picked up Grand Union in the hope that I would be blown away by the powerhouse that is Zadie Smith, and so I was very excited to learn that this was her first and much awaited short story collection. Zadie Smith is an astonishingly great writer, there is no shadow of doubt in that
On the 29th Day of Christmas Stephen Ground gave to me… The night they brought Billy home, Matt couldn’t sleep. Not unusual – Christmas at work was stressful, and he drank too much coffee – but when Martha woke to feed Billy at two, four, and six, Matt was watching Home Alone on repeat in
STORGY reviewer Rachael Smart takes us on a journey of the best books that she read in 2019, and her recommendations are something that always throw up books that we then put straight to the top of our overflowing to be read piles! So, grab yourself a coffee and some biscuits and enjoy, then you
On the 28th Day of Christmas Sherri Turner gave to me… It all seemed so familiar: the bushy tree, the presents wrapped in red and gold, the twinkling fairy lights. Holly laughed. Of course it did. Kevin always picked the fattest tree, he knew she loved red and gold and they’d had those lights for
I remember every Monday, the soft scent of soap, bubbles filling the air in your laundry room, clothes hanging from the line that grandpa fixed from one wall to the other, the soft hum of the wireless. When the sun shone, I followed you outside, my feet in your footprints, toes pointed like yours. We
