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This first collection of nine short stories is the debut of a writer of whom I’ve never heard. Had she published her stories in some of our literary magazines, as writers usually do, it might have been possible to have some idea of her talent before settling down to read these stories. But no, many young writers want to rush into print in book form, with stories which would have benefited from appearing first in magazines, so that the author can see them in print and consider how they might be more finely tuned.
That said, I enjoyed these tales, not so much for the quality of the writing, which leaves something to be desired, as for the strange world into which they draw the reader, which is always a mark of the successful story. Most of the characters are what might be called unsavoury, down and outs, marginal people, the socially deprived and sometimes the plain barmy.
There are, for example, Clancy, a serial bride who just can’t say no to a marriage proposal; Nadja, an illegal immigrant now living from hand to hand in Swansea; Caitlin and her frog-baby; Ivo, a bare-knuckle boxer who habitually wears a pin-stripe suit; and a father and son, guitarists both, who spend their days feuding and making up.
Penny Simpson has a good eye for the telling detail and a good grasp of what makes a story zip along. Her dialogue is, on the whole, convincing, though some of her narrative sags from time to time. To my consternation, though not my surprise, she is prone to all the barbarisms that have poured into demotic English over the last decade or so, many of them from America but some from Estuary and the solecisms of the uneducated. To give more than one example would be tedious: ‘When she woke up again, her Mam was still sat beside her.’ Where on earth has the imperfect tense, ‘sitting’, gone and will it (copy-editors please note) ever come back again?
Meic Stephens
It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.
Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.
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