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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

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Micro fiction and 9 micro reviews

18/5/2022

6 Comments

 
This latest batch of micro reviews – the first of this year – features a Nigerian classic novel; a non-fiction book about Britain’s black communities during the First World War; a novella about the bond between a woman and her granddaughter; a psychological thriller set in a care home; a memoir about psychiatric abuse; a novel about love against the odds; a classic novel about a young woman’s breakdown; a whimsical fantasy and an Indian retelling of King Lear.
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Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rereading the copy I bought in Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s, what strikes me (alongside the culture clash with the missionaries) is the theme of fathers and sons. Okonkwo was determined not to be a better man than his father was unprepared for his son choosing a different path for himself. Then there's the sacrifice of the 'adopted' son and the imposition of the fatherhood of the colonisers' church.

Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great WarBlack Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War by Stephen Bourne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There have been Black people living in Britain since the 1500s, some of whom served in the First World War. Others travelled, often at their own expense, to fight for the Mother Country. How tragic, then, to read about the racist riots that terrorised black families in some English and Welsh seaports, which one historian likened to Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany. But, as outlined movingly in his introduction, the author's main aim for this book was to help contemporary young black Britons growing up in a racist country to feel pride, not victimhood, in their heritage.

What Willow SaysWhat Willow Says by Lynn Buckle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A beautifully lyrical and poignant story of a widowed artist and her orphaned granddaughter sharing a love of the natural world through sign language and a passion for trees.

Someone Close to HomeSomeone Close to Home by Alex Craigie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Megan has a successful career as a pianist but that's not quite enough for her mother, who manipulates her into marrying a movie star. When he turns out to be even more vicious and controlling than her mother, she stays in the marriage for the sake of the children. Eventually, as they leave home, she starts to recover her self-esteem, until disaster strikes: a cerebral haemorrhage that leaves her without movement or speech. She's farmed off to a care home where, due both to overwork and straightforward maliciousness, kindness is in short supply. That would be bad enough, but there's one member of staff who perceives Megan's helplessness and as an opportunity to avenge her troubled childhood.

Alex Christie brilliantly evokes the terror of being totally dependent on people who are not only neglectful, but cruel, alongside the cracks in the care system that prioritises profit over people. An uncomfortable story beautifully told.

Will There Really Be a Morning?Will There Really Be a Morning? by Frances Farmer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The shocking posthumously-published maybe-memoir of an unloved daughter; 1930s Hollywood-hating film star; involuntary psychiatric patient; angry alcoholic and one half of a same-sex couple who insisted they were only friends. I read it on the recommendation of a writer in my critique group because I'm completing a novella set in an asylum (across the pond) in the same era. I thought I knew how sadistic those places could be, but this was horrific: neglect, bullying, unhygienic, with torturous treatments such as freezing-cold-water hydrotherapy (but no mention of the lobotomy she's rumoured to have had). A good example of disordered attachment and an individual scapegoated for an entire family's difficulties, but the woman remains an enigma.

Reminders of HimReminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She likes him. He likes her. They both love her daughter. But the more time they spend together, the more they jeopardise their relationship with the little girl. I got a little tired of the characters reminding me how high the stakes were, but I was still in tears at the end.

The Bell JarThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rereading this for a blog post on women and mental health history, I'd forgotten how well-written it is and how perfectly encapsulates how gender expectations of the time could drive a young woman mad. I'd also forgotten the wonderful opening with the Rosenbergs’ state-sanctioned murder, along with the pain and confusion with being out of step with public opinion. And so sad reading about the suicide attempts when we know what happened to the author.

This One Sky DayThis One Sky Day by Leone Ross
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Having loved this author's short story collection, this was certainly on my radar when it was published last year. But, given it was fantasy, I thought I'd pass. Alas, I wish I'd gone with my gut instead of picking up the copy calling out to me from a bookstall. The potentially interesting themes of love, identity, sex and sexuality, food, loss, racism, capitalism and corruption were swamped by the whimsy.

We That Are YoungWe That Are Young by Preti Taneja
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mixed feelings about this retelling of King Lear in a contemporary capitalist India. It's beautifully written, particularly at the beginning, but way too long, especially when the characters are (appropriately) so unlikeable and nor did I learn anything new.

View all my reviews
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This week’s flash fiction challenge is to write a story about when a newly released prisoner meets the disabled veteran who adopted the puppy the prisoner trained behind bars. Seems to me that’s already a story in its own right but Reminders of Him fired my creative flare, although the character detail I borrowed from that novel didn’t fit into 99 words.
Rescue dog

Everything she loved was taken from her. So, when the cell door closed, she resolved never to love again. She wouldn’t love the puppies she trained as support dogs for disabled veterans. Hell, she only did that job to expedite her release.

Once out, she refused to love the freedom. Perhaps that’s why she got in the car with the mean-eyed man. And his golden retriever that smelled like one of hers.

She refused to care when he pulled a knife and unzipped his fly. But when he grabbed her clothing, the dog bit his arm and she ran.
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.
6 Comments
D. Avery link
30/5/2022 12:13:10 pm

I enjoyed these micro reviews. Yes, poor old Sylvia, it's been a good long while since I've read The Bell Jar. I rarely reread a book, here you've reread two. I look forward to your article on rereading. (Ok, maybe you don't have one planned, but now maybe you will)
Your flash shows the loyalty and smarts of a good dog. I look forward to hearing about your adventures with your dog. (Ok, I know you don't wish to have a dog, but maybe now you will)

Reply
Anne
11/6/2022 12:21:51 pm

You made me laugh when I first read this and now I'm laughing to read your words again. Thank you my friend, but I'll stick to fictional dogs :)

Reply
D. Avery link
11/6/2022 12:52:53 pm

I accept that your canine companions will be unreal.
What about the article on the merits and rewards or waste of time of re-reading books? Eh?
So glad to see you out and about again, Doc Ranger.

Anne
11/6/2022 03:39:18 pm

Welcome back yourself but Doc ranger is a sore point since, although well behaved dogs on leads are welcome on my Jane Eyre ranger walk, this month's event is pure fiction as I won't have the breath to lead it.

Norah Colvin
30/5/2022 12:30:54 pm

That's an interesting list, Anne. I haven't read any, including the Bell Jar which I probably should add to my list.
Your flash is excellent as usual. Although she may have been determined to not love, that doesn't mean she couldn't be loved. There must have been a good relationship between her and the dog.

Reply
Anne
11/6/2022 02:55:38 pm

Thanks, Norah, that dog must've been very forgiving.

Reply



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