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Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

9 recent reads and a 99-word story inspired by one of them

11/11/2022

4 Comments

 

A couple of jewels and a few disappointments amongst these nine recent reads, including a rare one-star for a Booker-prize shortlisted book. I’m happy to recommend The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (which I came across on TikTok) and Mrs England, but do browse through the others – you might find something that appeals.

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Summer of '76Summer of '76 by Isabel Ashdown
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Dialogue-heavy coming of age story set on the Isle of Wight. I found the pace rather slow, especially as there is a strong hint of the family secret in the prologue.

The Bead CollectorThe Bead Collector by Sefi Atta
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

An insight into middle/upper class Lagos life in 1976, but not enough story for me (or character).

View all my reviews The Cloths of HeavenThe Cloths of Heaven by Sue Eckstein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fun story of expats in West Africa (or should we say economic migrants?) – some cartoonish characterisation (the racism, the exploitation, the double standards) was sadly credible but redeemed by enough other people doing their flawed best.

Francis Plug - How to Be a Public AuthorFrancis Plug - How to Be a Public Author by Paul Ewen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I thought it would be funnier.



Treacle WalkerTreacle Walker by Alan Garner
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The fact that I spent most of the time worrying about who was keeping this boy fed and watered shows I'm not this slim book's ideal reader. Had it been marketed as a short story, I might have smiled at the whimsy, but sold as a novel? Short-listed for the Booker? Proof the Emperor has no clothes. Luckily, it wasted only an hour of my time.

Mrs EnglandMrs England by Stacey Halls


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Ruby escapes her troubled family to work as a nanny to the children of a Yorkshire mill owner, she is plunged into more confusing family dynamics. Enjoyable Gothic historical mystery touching on mental health issues.

The Girl UpstairsThe Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When her noisy neighbour goes silent, Suzie feels alone in her concern. Driven by her own tragic loss, she risks her sanity and safety to discover how and why her neighbour has disappeared. Mediocre domestic noir that seems to have sold well.

SongbirdsSongbirds by Christy Lefteri
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Nine years earlier, Nisha left her two-year-old daughter to be brought up by her grandmother and travelled from Sri Lanka to Cyprus to work as a domestic drudge. Now she's disappeared.
The police don't care. I wanted to care but it was hard when her story is mediated by two unlikeable characters: her employer who, in nine years, has failed to recognise that Nisha is a person, a mother and widow much like herself; and her lover who hunts songbirds to sell on the black market.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn HugoThe Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When an elderly actress relates her glamorous career and scandalous love life to a novice journalist, we don't realise how much their lives are intertwined. An engrossing novel about celebrity, love and ruthless ambition.

View all my reviews
Even though I wasn’t particularly taken by the novel, I’ve drawn my inspiration for this week’s flash fiction challenge from Francis Plug. Maybe something in that book got to me after all, as my 99-word story is about how we can be disappointed by authors we’ve put on a pedestal. The prompt was something squeaky and I didn’t want to write about my annoying desk chair.

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The master’s voice

Although I had all his novels as audiobooks, I preferred to feel his words on the page. Literally, as my fingertips danced across the dots. So when he came to talk at the library, Rover and I went along.

From my front-row seat, I heard the clink of his water glass. Heard him inhale, ready to read. But the squeaky voice so startled me, Rover growled. Flustered, I asked the person next to me if this was really Hilary Mantel. I hadn’t realised my favourite author was a woman. I assumed only a man could produce such powerful prose.
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
4 Comments
D. Avery link
17/11/2022 06:38:09 pm

The power of this flash is that last line. We've all been somewhat blinded to the voices behind what we hear and read, trained to assume a strong voice, authoritative prose, is from a man. Well done this perspective this twist.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
18/11/2022 02:33:59 pm

Thanks, it's so pervasive, although hopefully getting better. i really like how on our local TV news, when they interview a farmer, they usually find a woman.

Reply
Norah Colvin
20/11/2022 10:09:38 am

Love your flash, Anne. Sometimes I think we are better to not know anything about the creator whose work we admire. We can put them on a pedestal only to be disappointed when we discover they are human after all. But a woman! How disappointing is that!?
I'm so pleased you're changing the game.

Reply
annegoodwin
20/11/2022 02:08:17 pm

Yeah, re creators are people too. Wasn't Wagner a fascist and there's a famous artist here with dubious morals.

Reply

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