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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Ben Macnair (010521) Rating (7/10) Review
by Ben Macnair In the title story, Charlie finds herself trying to impress bored children at their parties, where animal balloons do not hold the sense of fun or occasion that they used to. The Mothers are all talking, some of the father’s take more of an interest in Charlie, but none of them are interested in her as a person, just doing a gig, trying to get by. The Poison Frog is about a close, but slightly toxic mother daughter relationship, and the frog that is found in daughter Charlotte’s throat. The frog becomes a pet, and a bone of contention between the pair. The Mermaid and the Tick examines the differences that a husband and wife discover on a romantic holiday, whilst The Painting is about a work of art that misses out the most important ingredients. Camel Toe looks at the radically different lives of two sisters, reconnecting on the netball court after becoming orphans. 3 o’clock is a sad story written by a woman living with dementia. The fractured nature of the telling, and the story it contains drip with confusion and pathos. All of the stories contain ordinary places, offices, supermarkets, but they are places that signal change, and development in the lives of the characters contained within the stories. With something of Angela Carter, Raymond Carver and Sarah Hall, these are short stories that are bound to linger long after you have finished the book. |
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