Reviews

These past couple of weeks, I have been dancing around Ireland and Hungary with Wendy Erskine and her latest collection Dance Move. First I took it around Kerry and Dingle, then on a weekend in Hungary. And wow were there some surprise moves hidden in it!

Wendy Erskine has an unquestionable talent in concentrating a whole town or a country into a single story, along with all its hidden nuances and cultural meanings. Not just that, she is able to pack a historical event into the lives of people in a town and then throw all of that into a story. And you’ll feel every bit of it. It’s exactly this ability she has of conveying emotions and histories in just a few sentences that keeps drawing me to her stories and makes me expect each next collection of hers impatiently.

Erskine’s writing is clear and precise, without any tricks or gimmicks. Her language doesn’t obscure or unveil. Her words just add up and build a story as if building a wall, layer by layer, as you stand and watch it all grow. Her stories draw you in and you can’t stop reading until you get so close to what she’s built that you scrape your nose against it. In a good way!

For me, Wendy Erskine is the new voice of Northern Ireland and I can’t wait for her next collection!

Personal favourites: Mathematics, His Mother, Nostalgie, Memento Mori

ursovrmne's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

short stories have never particularly stood out to me, and i think ive only ever read one other collection, earlier this year. i picked this up as it was on sale and i had zero impressions of what it was going to be like. i loved this book so much. Erskine creates such depth in few pages, but somehow also leaves you satisfied at the end of each one. i was drawn into almost all of these stories and could have gone for a whole book of anyone of the stories, but their charm was in the brevity. superb writing and absolutely a stand out book of my year. my favourite story was Memento Mori - incredibly well done. Cell was also a favourite, my least fav probably either the first or last story of the collection. this is the longest review ive ever written i think. i did also read this 24 hours. i will 100% re-read this collection.
almost frustratingly good, im sad its over!

thatjameswhitman's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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