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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

Overburdened: The Plimsoll Line, Starling Days, Cat and the Dreamer, Unsettled Ground & Sorrow and Bliss

5/4/2023

8 Comments

 
Five recent reads about characters facing life challenges that are almost too much to bear: bereavement; chronic illness; relationship crises and more. See what you think.
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The Plimsoll LineThe Plimsoll Line by Juan Gracia Armendáriz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like an overloaded ship in the nineteenth century (which is the origin of the title), Gabriel is sinking under the weight of a surfeit of tragic life events. His only daughter has died in a traffic accident, his wife has left him and he's had to leave his job through ill health. His days have narrowed to pottering in the garden, smoking and talking to the cat, while fielding calls from his ex-wife about selling the house. His main activity is taking a taxi to the nearest town for gruelling sessions of haemodialysis.
I appreciated how the author depicts Gabriel as numbed by his experiences, although this does have a distancing effect. Plus, although there were beautiful descriptions, I didn't enjoy the opening pages' focus on the house rather than character, and repeated reference to an 'anonymous observer' didn't work for me.
The novella is translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Dunne. Thanks to Rebecca Foster for bringing it to my attention.

Starling DaysStarling Days by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oscar wants his wife, Mina, to be happy, but neither of them realises what a challenge that poses for someone who overdosed on her wedding night. He hides his own vulnerabilities in spreadsheets and compulsive exercise, while she mopes about. What will happen when he has to leave her to go on a business trip?
Despite the dramatic opening, I found the early chapters rather dull but ultimately enjoyed it.

Cat and The DreamerCat and The Dreamer by Annalisa Crawford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fifteen years and half a lifetime ago Julia stopped living when she survived a suicide pact and her friend died. Now her fantasies are more real than her humdrum life in a dead-end job and stuck at home with her parents. Will the new man at work rekindle her enthusiasm? Or is it already too late? Beautiful prose takes us to the heart of this sensitive topic with an ending that made me question everything I'd read before.

Unsettled GroundUnsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jeanie and Julius have lived with their mother in a crumbling country cottage for all of their fifty-one years, a step apart from the modern world. But now she's dead and the twins are discovering her secrets, and the debt that will leave them hungry and homeless as well as bereaved.
I loved the writing and felt real sympathy for the two main characters but, apart from the brilliant penultimate reveal, I found the plot somewhat contrived

Sorrow and BlissSorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Such mixed feelings about this novel. It’s described as funny and witty but I didn’t laugh until page 331. For the first two thirds I felt swamped by millennial self-pity as a young woman struggles to build herself an acceptable life. I didn’t think she could irritate me any further, but then she tells us about her life-changing diagnosis of — —. Yes, it’s actually — —! As you must know, — — carries a stigma, but it’s also liberating for the protagonist. Sadly not for this reader as it just felt as if the author couldn’t be bothered to research a proper condition to explain her character’s struggles. Generally, I don’t think mental health diagnoses are necessary in fiction but, if an author wants to use one, I’d rather she’d risk getting it wrong than tell us the diagnosis is double dash.
But I did appreciate some of the later chapters: there’s genuine psychological depth in the exploration of the difficulties of accommodating oneself to living with a long-term condition and finding the right balance between minimising it so much you’re in denial and letting it dominate every relationship, every aspect of your life.



View all my reviews
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​This week’s flash fiction challenge is to write a 99-word story about a dog in the desert. Inspired by my Cat and the Dreamer, I had to go for the metaphorical approach.
A Black Dog Where Nothing Grows

At fifteen, life was a garden on the cusp of spring. Until you touched it with your frosty fingers and killed the nascent buds.

At thirty, life is a barren landscape, a desert. The black dog of depression smothers all new growth. I get up, go to work, go to bed, chained to the canine’s shadow. Rinse and repeat, each day no different to the last.

​The breeze stirs the sand and there, in the dust, a chewed bone. Curious, the dog spins circles around it. Is this a relic of more dead dreams or a nudge to play?
 

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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.
8 Comments
Norah Colvin
11/4/2023 12:13:24 pm

Your list of books with mostly 3 or fewer stars seems totally uninspiring, Anne. I don't know how you see them through.
On the other hand, your inspired flash is quite compelling. I loved your opening paragraph and its wonderful imagery. The second read true to form, but then the third has me wondering - I hope it is a nudge to play.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
11/4/2023 03:17:07 pm

Thanks, Norah. I think I'm quite a harsh marker – the three stars reads were okay but I've read a couple since which I enjoyed more.

Reply
Charli Mills
13/4/2023 01:06:40 am

Some compelling books in your latest line-up, although I laughed that you didn't laugh until page 331 of Sorrow and Bliss, a book described as funny. Humor can be a touchy thing. Interesting reads, though, and I appreciate your insights.

Clever take on the prompt. Great line image of the black dog of depression: "chained to the canine’s shadow." Your final paragraph offers a choice, if the one choosing feels they have such a thing. Sometimes, all we have is our outlook. Perhaps a dead bone of dreams can be a renewal to play.

Reply
Anne
14/4/2023 08:20:07 am

Thanks, Charli. Regarding Sorrow and Bliss, I think there is a subgenre of novels about the angst of privileged millennials, usually women, that I just don't connect with.

A dog prompt was always going to be a challenge for me, so glad you think it worked. I think for my character, it's less outlook generally, but that the ability to think of play even as a remote possibility is going to open things up for her.

Reply
D. Avery link
19/4/2023 07:00:11 pm

Your metaphorical approach is quite effective. I thought so reading this at the Ranch, but I do appreciate coming here and seeing what the inspiration was.
And it goes without saying that the antidote to the "black dog of depression" is, of course, a puppy.
The flash also adds to the intrigue of your review of Cat & the Dreamer; I may have to read that.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/4/2023 06:49:26 am

Ha, a puppy, I walked right into that one didn't I?
Interested that you might turn to a cat -- or Cat.

Reply
D. Avery link
20/4/2023 11:44:14 am

Ha! Cats are a whole other story. I've had one in my house since that one dog even though I'm not a cat person. This cat has been a terrific dog. You could consider a cat. They enjoy getting in the way as you garden and they like fighting with the laptop for lap space. Mine has become a pacifist so I never have to worry about finding slain mice.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/4/2023 05:40:44 pm

We have cats visit the garden but I wouldn't want one in the house unless to get rid of a mouse.

Reply

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