Having a tattoo on the body has a reason behind it, and it also seems that a tattoo has a story to tell. To use the theme of tattoos for a collection of short stories is significant, original and a daring attempt to bring meaning to life. One can see a tattoo as it is or one can assume that it is for bodily decoration, but in reality tattoos speak for themselves.
On the Bodies of Strangers by Hannah Stevens includes twelve stories and the author captures distinct and indistinct tattoos on human body and links them with human experiences and lives. People might get tattoos out of necessity or out of fancifulness, but indeed, they have interesting stories to disclose.
The author’s tone is not expansive, but short and precise, taking readers to the exact critical moment in characters' lives, one where they will be surprised with the twist she has used in her writing techniques. That is a skill only a few writers possess. Her characters range from adolescents, to adult men, women, jailors, etc. All of them have their own tattoos to characterise them. Some represent pure sensation, some are for curing trauma, some represent hope and a better future.
Reading these stories will leave behind thoughts, surprises or smiles on the face of readers. One can confidently say that Stevens executes the stories very well. She does not take much time to develop characters but readers can sympathize or understand the emotions, feelings, and sensations of the characters in a very short space and time.
Among the stories, my two favourites are "The End of August" and "Naming of Bones" because they ended up with unexpected twists and many things to ponder upon afterwards. All of the others are very readable and enjoyable, too. After reading Stevens's stories, I am silently looking out for a person with a tattoo in real life, and trying to decipher the meaning of it, because of the magic spell of her writing is still prevalent in my mind.
San Lin Tun is a writer and acoustic guitarist living in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma). He is a Gold Olympiad Winner at the Guitar Olympiad 2025 and a recipient of Yorgos Foudoulis Culture Award 2025/2026 and has published over a dozen books and two music albums.
