Review by Jonathan Wilkins of "The Calamity of Desire and Other Stories" by Judith Dancoff

I read this book in one sitting.

No, I tell a lie, part way through I had to email the author to tell her what a wonderful work she had produced. I’ve never done that before, but if you read this collection of amazing short stories you will understand.

This is a truly beautiful collection of stories, most of them part-inspired by artists and works of art. The one outlier is a tale surrounding Annie Oakley, re-imagining her life on a trip to Paris where we are able to discover the vulnerabilities of a woman who dragged herself from the gutter to being the world-famous markswoman of lore. This story delves deep into her upbringing and lifestyle while commenting on the morals of the time with criticisms of well-known contemporary artists. This re-imagining is so clever and takes a real talent - a talent that is replicated through the collection.

Many of the stories play on the emotions of the reader and allow us a vision that we would not have imagined. We play a part in the characters' lives and stories. We discover another life that Dancoff imagines, and who are we to tell reality from fiction? 

The way Dancoff can draw out the allusions and images she makes is nonpareil. She writes about the life of the Infanta, the subject of the artist Klimt, the work of Louise Moillon, a sitter for Renoir during the Dreyfus affair, a curator at a museum, and a Vermeer inspired artist searching for love. Each tale made me research the artists and artworks that inspired Dancoff, hence introducing me to another layer of interest. 

This window into another world is just one of the benefits of reading the stories. They are delightful. Poignant and revealing, in some cases enchanting. There is a wistfulness to many and diverse historical perspectives are showcased. A great deal of research has obviously gone into each story as each is grounded on fact. I thoroughly enjoyed The Calamity of Desire and wholeheartedly recommend it.

About the reviewer

Jonathan Wilkins is 68. He is married to the gorgeous Annie with two wonderful sons. He was a teacher for twenty years, a Waterstones’ bookseller and coached women’s basketball for over thirty years before taking up writing seriously. Nowadays he takes notes for students with Special Needs at Leicester and Warwick Universities. He has had a work commissioned by the UK Arts Council and several pieces published traditionally as well as on-line. He has had poems in magazines and anthologies, art galleries, studios, museums and at Huddersfield Railway Station. He loves writing poetry. For his MA, he wrote a crime novel, Utrecht Snow. He followed it up with Utrecht Rain, and is now writing a third part. He is currently writing a crime series, Poppy Knows Best, set at the end of the Great War and into the early 1920s.