Review by Lisa Williams of "Coffee Spills & Songs" by Berendsje Westra

 

Coffee Spills & Songs by Berendsje Westra is the story of Air Steward Carys and her life as she approaches her thirtieth birthday. The action travels between her childhood and 2010. The book is written in the first person and we are soon enjoying her new relationship. Westra shows us the faults that Carys misses or ignores in her new partner. This makes for a frustrating read – we are cheering on our protagonist whilst wanting to grab her away from situations she saunters into. This helps you feel more invested in the book – Carys becomes almost a close friend, although at the same time it accentuates the exasperation we feel at her decisions and life choices. This isn’t a light fluffy read - the story also examines family tragedy and mental health. These weighty themes are woven seamlessly into the narrative.

This book is part of a trilogy yet still has a satisfying end should you choose not to read further. The characters are so fabulously crafted I certainly put the book down hoping the next one is soon available.

About the reviewer

Lisa Williams is a shopgirl from Leicester. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Leicester. @noodleBubble online.

 

Review by Simon Elson of "Fauna" by David Hartley

I didn't know that books like Fauna by David Hartley were published any more. I mean that in a positive manner. It is a collection of dystopian/sci-fi style stories. I thought books of short stories had almost stopped being published altogether, especially of the genre in this collection. I’m so glad that I was wrong. I read each story with fervour. As well as the sci-fi leaning, all the stories have an animal or insect subject matter, hence the title.

Some have a distinct ending, others are perhaps little ambiguous, prompting further thought before turning the page to read the next. The finest compliment I can offer is that although they are set in the twenty-first century (and some, the future) they reminded me of the golden age of this genre, the 1950s and 60s, and are comparable to the short stories of Phillip K Dick and John Wyndham.  

Without too many spoilers, some of the highlights for me were the ferryman of the Styx accepting an unusual passenger with an even more unusual cargo, a man hunting shadow animals - is he hunting shadow animals because all the real animals have been hunted already, or to protect the few that are living? - a fishing trawler netting a regal catch, horses in a barn as part of a time-slip, and a story about foxes that could have been written by the master of English horror, James Herbert.

For me, though, the standout story is ‘Betamorphosis.’ A young Cockroach is shunned by his family after being forced to take part in an experiment and thinks he is … now, that would be a major spoiler. Poignancy, family feuds and some laugh-out-loud moments are all crammed in to a short story about an insect.

In my opinion, this single story would be reason enough to buy the volume. I will certainly be seeking out more works by David Hartley.

About the reviewer
Simon Elson is a Freelance Features Writer. His articles  have appeared in numerous national magazines including Best of British, Derbyshire Life and Writing Magazine. He also writes for the popular cycling website Veloballs.com and has been a guest blogger on The Huffington Post. 

Review by Vic Pickup of "Myth ꟾ Woman" by Charley Barnes and Claire Walker

Myth ꟾ Woman speaks of mythology, history, feminine vulnerability and power; each poem is succinct, beautiful and demands revisiting, reflection and deeper exploration.  

Poets Charley Barnes and Claire Walker have sewn their work together to create a strong singular voice which expands on the pre-existing ideas of mer-women, with evocative images and language which draws the reader in, evokes empathy and – somehow – manages to resonate personally. 

The notes at the back of this pamphlet give just enough historical context to aid comprehension and enable the creative work to do its magic. For example, we learn that merfolk appear in some retellings of Noah’s Ark, knowledge which provides the context needed when we read ‘In the beginning,’ so that we can better appreciate the beauty of the first stanza on first reading:  

          It came as a shift in our sky.
          From underwater we saw
          the boiled-sweet shimmer
          of the sun dim in warnings
          and waited as we watched
          the clouds roar through grey to black.

This ominous last line draws upon our prior knowledge of what is to come, enhanced by such gorgeous imagery as the ‘boiled sweet shimmer,’ the lulling rhythm of the ’underwater we saw’ and lovely phrasing such as ‘sun dim.’  

The poem builds and intrigues with elements of sorcery and a kind of mystical power which connects like forces.

          Unrest in its hull prickled 
          our scales … and we knew
          that onboard was a creature
          whose beauty lay mythic as our own.

          We took a vote and rose.

There’s something deliciously sinister about the final line here, and these poets are masterful at conveying a disturbing atmosphere – often using this to allude to male corruption.

In ‘More than this body’ we read about the scientific examination of a mermaid (which, the notes explain, was alleged to have occurred). The poets speak of the subject’s beauty and wonder: 

          … each scale has been cut
          to size the curve of a moon.
          They will have to find a way to preserve them

This troubling line reflects the tone of the poem and suggests the ignorance of the examiners – this specimen being clearly too complex and beautiful for them to understand:

          During their examinations
          they miss how the indent of each rib
          is mimicry for rushing waves – a riptide.

The end of the poem takes a darker turn:

          When her mouth is opened there is a crack
          of bone, then silence.

          But there will always be more than this 
          male-sanctioned quiet -

          she will always be more than this body. 

This poem explores so perfectly the existence and wonder of womanhood (both mer and otherwise), beyond the physical being. Its stanzas reflect the misunderstanding of science, the futile investigations into things we do not understand, the corruption of what is beautiful. 

This pamphlet is rich, awesome, exotic, and dangerous. The collaboration of Barnes and Walker has created a sequence that’s charming and foreboding, asking us to re-evaluate our perception of creatures and characters from the dark depths of the past.  

About the reviewer

Vic Pickup is a previous winner of the Café Writers and Cupid’s Arrow Competitions, and shortlisted for the National Poetry Day #speakyourtruth prize on YouTube. Lost & Found is Vic’s debut pamphlet, published by Hedgehog Poetry Press and featuring Pushcart-nominated poem ‘Social Distancing.’ @vicpickup / www.vicpickup.com

You can read a review of Lost & Found on Everybody's Reviewing here.

Review by Asha Krishna of "Inside Fictional Minds: Tips from Psychology for Creating Characters" by Dr Stephanie Carty

Writers are constantly dealing with human behaviour. Why do the characters act a certain way? What makes them work? 

Inside Fictional Minds by Dr Stephanie Carty offers answers to these questions through clinical psychology. An NHS consultant psychologist, Dr Carty has written many award-winning stories and draws on her professional experience to show how emotions and defence mechanisms can be utilised to create strong, fictional characters.

Such a book might feel a bit overwhelming as it battles the possibility of information overload. Thankfully, Inside Fictional Minds avoids that pitfall and has a clear focus on the writers’ needs. The succinct chapters allow the reader to examine and assign the different emotions and constructs. They are followed by tasks so that the writer can play with the concepts and try out the best fit for their characters.

Divided into three parts, the book has a focussed approach in how it navigates through a minefield of information. The first section, 'The Basics,' discusses how emotions, perceptions and desires shape a character’s persona. 

The second section, 'The Specifics,' explores traits like narcissism and perfectionism and their effects on character. The third section, 'Putting It All Together,' discusses the crucial element of change. The character’s main function is to change over the course of the story and this chapter is packed with useful tips to map that journey. 

The book also recognises the role of a reader while constructing a narrative. Dr Carty’s firm grip on the craft, fused with her professional experience, works well as she balances character insight and reader involvement to build a strong story.

Overall, this is a valuable tool for the advanced writer. Whether a story is plot-driven or character-led, adding dimensions to characterisation elevates the story and this book helps the author do just that. 

About the reviewer
Asha Krishna hates homeschooling but loves seeing her name in print. She is a proud mentee of the Middleway Mentoring project, a professional scheme for emerging writers, and writes short stories and flash. Her work has appeared in Flash Fiction, Leicesterwrites and In the Middle anthologies. She lives in Leicestershire and tweets as @ashkkrish. 

You can read more about Inside Fictional Minds on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Review by Cathi Rae of "Forty Names" by Parwana Fayyaz

The best writing, the very best writing takes you somewhere else, takes you to somewhere you have never been, perhaps somewhere you didn't even know existed.

This collection does just that, taking the reader into the lives of women in Afghanistan and the refugee diaspora, making those experiences real by the telling of family stories, the re-telling of family history. The poems focus on individual experience, so that even if this world is not yours there are commonalities and hooks to help us, the outsiders, connect with these narratives.

The title poem, 'Forty Names,' which won the Forward Poetry Prize for a single poem is the story of forty women who, having hidden in caves to avoid an army of occupation, jump off a cliff to avoid dishonour. As part of the piece, they are named, and women's names - both the names they are given and the names they live by - are central to many of these poems. In a culture where, traditionally, women are often invisible, this naming and the re-telling of their life stories and their struggles brings them into full focus. We can see them as clearly as if they were sitting with us.

There is a strong feel of story telling within the whole collection - from village myths to complex threads of family honour and dishonour and the tiny stories of domestic life. The style is both conversational - you can imagine these poems as conversations over tea - and beautifully crafted and observed, with tiny telling details which convey the refugee experience with the lightest of touch:

           Into exile, next to our little feet and hands,
           My mother carried her box of sewing needle,
           And her Butterfly sewing machine made in the USSR.

This is a collection that will deliver pleasure from multiple readings. Enjoy being taken to another world, another history.

About the reviewer
Cathi Rae is a spoken word artist and somewhat to her own surprise a PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester.

You can read about Cathi's collection, Your Cleaner Hates You and Other Poems, on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Review by Neil Fulwood of "Fox Fires" by Wyl Menmuir

Get past the title and YA-style cover design, both of which seem curiously at odds with the novel’s tone and literary aesthetic, get past a slightly awkward first chapter, and Menmuir’s sophomore outing develops into a fascinating study of the interrelationship between cityscape and mindscape through which glimpses of Iain Banks, Haruki Murakami and perhaps even an afterimage of Stefan Zweig can be discerned.

In an imaginative conceit every bit as good as that which powers China Mieville’s The City and the City, Fox Fires is set in a city-state called simply O, its borders recently opened to the outside world, where maps are forbidden and the streets unnamed (the better, apparently, to confuse would-be invaders, though how the absence of signs is a deterrent to enemy tanks or ground troops is left unexplained). Allegorically, this concept is fantastic and Menmuir is at his best when he weaves his claustrophobic world-building around it (O is subject to curfews, its citizens spy on each other, strange propagandist posters appear and disappear randomly).

When Fox Fires works, it works well - particularly in regard to its mysterious narrator - while its heroine is beautifully nuanced and as memorable a protagonist as you could want. The most effective scenes achieve the dream-like unreality of an art house movie (indeed, it would be interesting to see a director with a European sensitivity take it up as a project).

At 188 pages, it doesn’t outstay its welcome, and with the exception of a few dialogue passages which suffer from being aphoristic rather than organic the writing is controlled, evocative and intelligent. I’d certainly recommend it as an intriguing work by a developing talent, though I did wonder if it was just a couple more drafts away from being truly great.

About the reviewer

Neil Fulwood lives and works in Nottingham. He has published two full poetry collections with Shoestring Press, No Avoiding It and Can’t Take Me Anywhere; his third, Service Cancelled, will be released on 29th July 2021.

You can read more about Neil's work and his collection Can't Take Me Anywhere on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

You can read more about Wyl Menmuir's Fox Fires, and listen to a special reading of the opening scene from the novel on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Review by Vic Pickup of "Have a nice weekend I think you're interesting" by Lucy Holt

This pamphlet is eclectic and captivating. Described by Ella Frears as ‘sharp, surprising and very funny,’ its pointed couplets present a myriad of observations – from eyelash curlers and windsocks to Coronation Street – appealing to the reader to revisit these poems and see what else they can find in this box filled with random treasures. 

The poet writes in short phrases or sentences, with focused images or ideas which are often tenuously tied together. Holt avoids punctuation, using line breaks to give just enough clarity for ideas or images to be interpreted and threaded together by the reader. 

In ‘Blue light, morning,’ Holt concludes: ‘knowing things named for revenge / rarely bring it.’ It’s this kind of philosophy-in-passing which demands more than a moment’s consideration, and which allows these poems the space they need to resonate. 

One of my favourite couplets features in ‘Timperley’: ‘I have loved men from the coast who cannot swim / I am always seeking a challenge.’ The irony here is marvellous, the phrasing deadpan. Is it the challenge of teaching these men how to swim, or the question hovering over the character of someone who lives by the sea but is not sufficiently equipped to enter it? 

Black humour is also present in ‘COS woman’: 

          a windsock woman
          I am capacious and shakeable

          … serious like wearing lead clogs
          to breakfast

These two images stuck with me (I doubt I’ll again see a windsock without empathising with it). Holt is brilliant at capturing this dry wit on the page, but she’s also highly eloquent in her descriptions, which are every bit as precise, as in ‘Entertaining’: 

         on the drive home
         I push my palms to the sunroof
         feeling for weak points

The title poem’s interlinking couplets present a rather shocking image, which says a great deal about a relationship, self-worth and perhaps even abuse: 

          I am face blind apart from 
          you sometimes

          and at night you roll me
          across the wet grass

          to a gentle stop
          outside my mother’s porch

Ultimately, I loved Holt’s gift for concise imagery and her sharp wit which resonates throughout this pamphlet. I admire the control the poet displays, knowing how to piece seemingly conflicting ideas together and, in doing so, invite the reader to fill the gaps. 

What really won me over is that, above all, I found this pamphlet personal and relatable. See ‘Lessons in gifting’:

         What does it mean to be a woman today
         reading the slogan lingerie for women who don’t do lingerie
             wondering to what extent you do?

         I have owned the same pyjama bottoms for a decade
         there never was a shirt

The poet thinks of themselves as an oddity, with things not quite fitting. This is consolidated in ‘Birds as consolation,’ as Holt explores this sense of alienation further:

           I’m jealous of stupid birds who are sincere
          and can murmurate – yes – murmurate

          without knowing
          how embarrassing it is to lean in

Yes, there is awkwardness here, but there is also intelligence and truth – as in ‘There is no word for this in German’:

          In the third decade of the twenty-first century
          it is illegal to be bored
          of your most persistent self

          In the third decade of the twenty-first century
          you have stopped shopping for clothes
          there is a group chat for all mankind you are admin

This poet has to no reason to be jealous of birds for their direction or natural instincts – she possesses both in the careful, measured craft of her poems, which say so much about herself, the world, and indeed, our place within it all. 

About the reviewer
Vic Pickup is a previous winner of the Café Writers and Cupid’s Arrow Competitions, and shortlisted for the National Poetry Day #speakyourtruth prize on YouTube. Lost & Found is Vic’s debut pamphlet, published by Hedgehog Poetry Press and featuring Pushcart-nominated poem ‘Social Distancing.’ @vicpickup / www.vicpickup.com

You can read a review of Lost & Found on Everybody's Reviewing here.

Review by Colin Gardiner of "New York 2140" by Kim Stanley Robinson

 

New York 2140 is the brilliant vision of a flooded metropolis struggling against capitalist greed and the ravages of climate change.

Kim Stanley Robinson weaves multiple storylines to capture the imagination. The characters are vivid and the narrative expertly paced, but the real lead character of the story is the city itself. Towering out of the flooded skyline, with its canals and submerged secrets, New York really shines in this luminous tale.

This is a great, almost-utopian novel that provides hope for these uncertain times.

About the reviewer
Colin Gardiner lives in Coventry. He writes short stories and poems and has been published by The Ekphrastic Review, Ink Pantry, The Midnight Street Press and the Creative Writing at Leicester blog. More of his work can be read here.

Review by Teika Marija Smits of "Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories" by Lynda Clark

 

Short story collections can be difficult to review, particularly when – as in the case of Lynda Clark’s Dreaming in Quantum – the stories vary greatly in style, genre or tone. However, that said, these stories, whether they stray into the territories of science fiction, fantasy or folklore, are linked by a darkness and sense of humour which gives the collection a sharpness and style that would appeal to the fan of slipstream or literary fiction with a speculative twist. 

Stand-out stories for me are ‘Ghillie’s Mum’ (which was shortlisted for the 2019 BBC National Short Story Award), ‘Sídhe Wood’ and ‘Dreaming in Quantum.’ ‘Ghillie’s Mum’ paints a vivid and poignant story of a parent-child relationship that’s very relatable – I think every child of a certain age thinks their mum is weird and embarrassing, but in Ghillie’s case his mum really is very different from the other mums. ‘Sídhe Wood’ explores new motherhood in a deliciously dark and humorous manner, and ‘Dreaming in Quantum,’ in which Clark casts an insightful eye into the workings of academia, is a thrilling murder mystery. I can see this short story growing into a whole novel – there’s so much scope for exploring the concept of alternate dream worlds.

What I particularly like about Dreaming in Quantum is the way Clark gives such realism and depth to relationships – especially the bonds between siblings and friends. This is a stylish collection, full of warmth, wit and quirkiness; some of Clark’s stories put me in mind of Angela Readman’s writing (of which I’m a great fan). Clark is clearly skilled in the art of delivering high-quality prose, yet she never forgets the importance of story and how to satisfy the reader. She’s definitely a writer to watch. 

About the reviewer

Teika Marija Smits is a Nottinghamshire-based writer and freelance editor. Her debut poetry pamphlet, Russian Doll, was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing in March 2021. You can read a review of Russian Doll on Everybody's Reviewing here. 

You can read more about Lynda Clark's Dreaming in Quantum, and excerpt from it, on Creative Writing at Leicester here.