Review by Tim Grayson of "For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain" by Victoria Mackenzie

For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain is a magnificent book. It brings fresh eyes and vitality to the lives of two real, medieval women of faith: Margery Kempe, and the anchoress Julian of Norwich. It is a work of fiction, but takes its inspirations from The Book of Margery Kempe (the first autobiography written in English by a man or woman) and Julian's Revelations of Divine Love (the earliest surviving book in English written by a woman).

Interestingly, these women did meet in real life, and the latter part of the book deftly imagines their conversation. At times, I found myself moved beyond words, as if the book was speaking to my soul. It may be classed as fiction, but the author has worked wonders here; it's almost as if she's assisted Margery and Julian in creating a new holy book. Outstanding.

About the reviewer
Tim Grayson is the founding editor of the Leicester Literary Review, poet-in-residence at Belvoir Castle and the head of media at Technology Record. He has written poetry for members of the British peerage, scripts for BBC Radio, and has created and produced several board games, including Tatakai - a game of covert warfare. In his spare time, Tim enjoys spending time with his family, training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and exploring sites of historical significance.

Review by Tim Grayson of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver

It's amazing how the great 'realist' writers manage to say so much, with so little. Carver's short story collection is like this, and as real as it gets (unflinchingly so, at times). All of his stories are set in the real world, the situations are realistic (sometimes tragically so), and his characters could easily be our family, friends, acquaintances or strangers we pass on the street. 

The title of the collection (also the title of a short story in the book) is deceptive, as it's not all about love, or what we talk about when we talk about love. Rather, it's focused on a myriad of human relationships: family, friends, acquaintances, and even the relationships between strangers. It's almost as if these stories act as a type of keyhole, through which the reader can peek to see a glimpse of these imperfect lives, and then, when the story ends, the keyhole is blocked off, leaving us sitting in the dark.

For such a short book, it contains a variety of tales, some better than others, some darker than others, some longer than others, but all are charged with such emotional intensity that they'll grab you by the shirt and won't let you go until you finish them. Often, I found myself putting down the book, breathing a sigh of relief, immediately searching for and reading an analysis, and then just sitting there, closed book in hand, thinking about the characters' lives, and the consequences of their actions over and over.

It's written in such a simplistic, straightforward style that anyone could (and should) read it, but just because the stories are relatively short and easy to read, don't let that fool you into thinking it's a 'light' read. It's not. There's so much bubbling beneath the surface here that it deserves time, and respect. As mentioned, I often found myself finishing a story, putting the book down, thinking about it for hours afterwards, and then returning for another hit.

In short: it's simple writing, functional, and yet so incredibly powerful. Like all good ideas.

About the reviewer
Tim Grayson (born 1987) is the poet-in-residence at Belvoir Castle and something of a polymath, with experience in the arts, technology, politics, game design, submission wrestling, fencing, live events and more. He lives in Leicester (UK) with his wife and two children. His work and projects have taken him all over the globe.