Having Cried Wolf

by Gretchen Shirm

Small towns harbour secrets. Rising, receding and returning like the tides lapping the fictional coastal town of Kinsale, the stories in this collection revolve around Alice and Grace, friends since childhood, who grow to live vastly different lives.

Weaving in and around these women is a lattice of interconnecting stories drawing in their husbands, families, neighbours and strangers, each linked to one another by fate or circumstance. Having Cried Wolf is a contemplative and affecting collection – one that marks the arrival of an original literary talent.

Genres: Short Stories

Paperback

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Gretchen Shirm is a writer and lawyer. She has been published in The Best Australian Stories, Etchings, Wet Ink, and Southerly. She was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelists for her collection, Having Cried Wolf. Her new novel, Where the Light Falls (Allen & Unwin), follows a photographer's efforts to understand his former girlfriend's death.

Reviews

[Michael Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another book of linked short stories (which seems to be becoming a bit of a thing lately). In these stories Shirm draws together a handful of characters living in a small (fictional) NSW town. They're almost uniformly sad stories, dealing with the disintegration of relationships, the inability to communicate with others or even understand yourself and, of course, death. The language is crisp and evocative and the stories on their own are powerful snapshots. I didn't think the linking across stories always worked - I had to flip back and forwards a few times to remember exactly how some characters had popped up before - but there were neat moments and reverberations throughout and the whole was greater than the sum of the parts.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Having Cried Wolf by Gretchen Shirm came out in 2010, linked story collections were trending. And maybe they are even now, fuelled by the resounding success of Pulitzer winners Olive Kitteridge (2008) by Elizabeth Strout and A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) by Jennifer Egan. Creative writing courses seem to be an ideal breeding ground; the short form suits the attention spans of overcommitted uni tutors. With minimal plot requirements and scope for open endings, such collections can sometimes be salvaged from a failed novel. Essentially, all that’s needed is to overlap some characters, settings and events with a unifying theme, as Patrick Cullen did in What Came Between (2009). It’s an ideal vehicle for writers lacking novelistic instincts or the fearlessness, like Nam Le in The Boat (2008), to range far and wide for material. If stories are clearly connected most readers won’t mind if they don’t stand alone. And reading a strong collection can offer some of the pleasures of hunting for treasure or putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

More often, though, a loose collection, despite yielding assorted perspectives on an event, character and/or theme, can also enable its author to defer work on their weaknesses. Unlike, say, Tim Winton’s The Turning (2004), Having Cried Wolf has faded from my memory, partly due to unevenness. While about a third of the stories worked well, the rest lacked focus by comparison, a few depending on others for their impact, like chapters in a novel. Yet a novel as conventional as Shirm’s stories would need to be structured more tightly. Though Shirm varies point of view, tense and voice, her prose often feels imprecise, e.g.: ‘What’s funny is Roger’s hair, cut so severely it’s almost at right angles.’ (Right angles to what?) Clearly Shirm (‘a born storyteller’ and ‘a natural’ according to blurbs that seem to be fumbling for words) has talent and something to express – which isn’t always the same as truly having something to say. Sometimes support can come before a writer has had ample time to develop.

[Vince de Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slightly dark underbelly, like somewhat of a tinge of Twin Peaks about these stories ... I say that as a compliment.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. Finished it in two days, probably would have been one if I hadn't been in the middle of schoolwork. It is a short story cycle mapping out many different characters and events from multiple perspectives, and manages to tell a full narrative through the fragmentations of short story format. Each piece stands on its own as an eloquently produced piece of writing, and yet fits seamlessly and intricately within the framework of the greater scheme.

The only thing that didn't make me give it a full five stars was the fact that the stories were rather predictable. While still masterfully written and gripping because of this, I nearly always knew how each piece was going to end. And if I didn't quite grasp what message was being told by the piece (which was never because Gretchen Shirm truly manipulates the tools of language to her advantage), the concluding line of the story wrapped it up in a nice, tidy sentence. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was hitting you over the head, but at times I found a lack of trust between the author and her readership.

Aside from that though, I really recommend this book to all fans of short story collections and small-town narratives, particularly writers in this medium. It is a good book to learn from, and it's perfect for lunch hours and breaks between classes.

[Josephine Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contemporary Australian. The collection linked. Enjoyed it all.