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textpublishing's review against another edition
5.0
‘Brilliant distillations…tinged with latent tenderness.’
New York Times
New York Times
brittn's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
hannahmayreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved reading this collection, and I think it’s the perfect introduction to what a marvellous writer Amy Witting is. I had never come across her before and it’s a real shame she isn’t more widely known as she’s excellent. Witting seems at home in the short story form but I keen to see what she does in her novels and what more space adds to her prose.
There was a wonderful piece of praise in the introduction to my edition (written by Melanie Joosten) that really sums up Witting as a writer and I could say it better myself so I give it to you here:
“Her characters appear as people rather than ciphers of the writer’s imagination… Her characters face up to the circumstance of life, and, in doing so, request that the reader must as well.”
As for this collection there were many standouts. ‘The Rescue’ held so much promise; it was very “what if…” - a different kind of girl would have made for a very different kind of story. I loved ‘Letters to Jane Eyre’ - she took on Mary Ann’s voice so readily. Inhabiting voices is something Witting does particularly well, and I n ‘Peppercorn Rental’ I was entirely convinced of the young male narrator. ‘Goodbye, Ady, Goodbye, Joe’ had an honesty and a rawness that I did not expect, and it left me feeling emotional, as did ‘The Early Settler’. ‘Faces and Voices’ showed how little has really changed when it comes to burgeoning relationships, and ‘The Survivors’ was a perfect illustration of how much misery loves company.
There was a wonderful piece of praise in the introduction to my edition (written by Melanie Joosten) that really sums up Witting as a writer and I could say it better myself so I give it to you here:
“Her characters appear as people rather than ciphers of the writer’s imagination… Her characters face up to the circumstance of life, and, in doing so, request that the reader must as well.”
As for this collection there were many standouts. ‘The Rescue’ held so much promise; it was very “what if…” - a different kind of girl would have made for a very different kind of story. I loved ‘Letters to Jane Eyre’ - she took on Mary Ann’s voice so readily. Inhabiting voices is something Witting does particularly well, and I n ‘Peppercorn Rental’ I was entirely convinced of the young male narrator. ‘Goodbye, Ady, Goodbye, Joe’ had an honesty and a rawness that I did not expect, and it left me feeling emotional, as did ‘The Early Settler’. ‘Faces and Voices’ showed how little has really changed when it comes to burgeoning relationships, and ‘The Survivors’ was a perfect illustration of how much misery loves company.
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