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Dear George
In her second collection of short stories, Helen Simpson continues to explore ideas of independence, solitude, marriage, sex and babies with her characteristic blend of comedy and lyricism. Here are tales of young love - successful or thwarted, intense or comic.
From a wedding day for one, through the knotty problems of babies, their conception, arrival and impact on adult lives, to a Lothario receiving his just deserts, and the title story, where a schoolgirl's erotic daydreams during Shakespeare homework produce eventual blushes of horror.
From a wedding day for one, through the knotty problems of babies, their conception, arrival and impact on adult lives, to a Lothario receiving his just deserts, and the title story, where a schoolgirl's erotic daydreams during Shakespeare homework produce eventual blushes of horror.
153 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
3 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Helen Simpson
70 books48 followersHelen Simpson is an English novelist and short story writer. She was born in 1959 in Bristol, in the West of England, and went to a girls' school. She worked at Vogue for five years before her success in writing short stories meant she could afford to leave and concentrate full-time on her writing. Her first collection, Four Bare Legs in a Bed and Other Stories, won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award while her book Hey Yeah Right Get A Life, a series of interlinked stories, won the Hawthornden Prize.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. (In particular, the mystery author Helen de Guerry Simpson is a different author.)
In 1993, she was selected as one of Granta's top 20 novelists under the age of 40.
In 2009, she donated the short story The Tipping Point to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Air' collection.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. (In particular, the mystery author Helen de Guerry Simpson is a different author.)
In 1993, she was selected as one of Granta's top 20 novelists under the age of 40.
In 2009, she donated the short story The Tipping Point to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Air' collection.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 5, 2019
I saw someone recommending this on their book blog, and it intrigued me, so I thought I would buy a copy myself. As with every book of short stories, there are some that stand out more than others. The stories revolve around marriage, birth and sex. They are witty, heartwarming, heartbreaking and downright strange. One story really spoke to me, and I had a funny feeling that the story had been written just for me. Strange how stories can do that to you. Anyway, a bit of a mixed bag that didn't take me long to rad, so I might see if I can sniff out another of her books..
September 16, 2021
Simpson is becoming one of my favourite short story writers. Deciding to have children (or not) looms large here. In “When in Rome,” Geraldine is relieved to get her period as her relationship limps to an end. In “Last Orders,” the heavily pregnant protagonist, now 12 days overdue, fears the transformation ahead of her. “To Her Unready Boyfriend,” echoing Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” has the narrator warn him time runs short for babymaking.
I also liked “Bed and Breakfast,” about a young couple hoping not to turn into their boring parents; “Caput Apri” and its magical twist on the story behind “The Boar’s Head Carol” (a Christmas story or two is a trademark of Simpson’s collections, like the focus on motherhood); and “Heavy Weather,” in which parents of two small children have a manic Dorset holiday that takes in some beloved sites like Hardy’s cottage and marvel at the simultaneous joys and tyranny of childrearing.
The gentle absurdity of “The Immaculate Bridegroom” reminded me of a previous Simpson story in which a woman marries herself, and “Creative Writing” connects back to two of the other collections I’ve featured here with its writers’ workshop setting.
Some favourite lines:
“You will not be you any more, her ego told her id. Not only will you have produced somebody else from inside you, someone quite different and separate, but you yourself will change into somebody quite different, overnight – a Mother.”
“Children were petal-skinned ogres, Frances realized, callous and whimsical, holding autocratic sway over lower, larger vassals like herself.”
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
I also liked “Bed and Breakfast,” about a young couple hoping not to turn into their boring parents; “Caput Apri” and its magical twist on the story behind “The Boar’s Head Carol” (a Christmas story or two is a trademark of Simpson’s collections, like the focus on motherhood); and “Heavy Weather,” in which parents of two small children have a manic Dorset holiday that takes in some beloved sites like Hardy’s cottage and marvel at the simultaneous joys and tyranny of childrearing.
The gentle absurdity of “The Immaculate Bridegroom” reminded me of a previous Simpson story in which a woman marries herself, and “Creative Writing” connects back to two of the other collections I’ve featured here with its writers’ workshop setting.
Some favourite lines:
“You will not be you any more, her ego told her id. Not only will you have produced somebody else from inside you, someone quite different and separate, but you yourself will change into somebody quite different, overnight – a Mother.”
“Children were petal-skinned ogres, Frances realized, callous and whimsical, holding autocratic sway over lower, larger vassals like herself.”
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
December 29, 2025
This will probably be the last book I am going to finish reading this year. And what a reading year this has been! I am glad I get to end it on such a heartfelt note with this collection of short stories. The stories in this 1990-collection are short, edgy, and complex. They deal with family, marriage, food, friendship, motherhood and writing. It is the kind of collection that simmers without being all too explosive. It tethered me to itself. I thought I'd read a story or two a day and carry it forward in 2026. But Helen Simpson has a way with her style. She gets you into the story of a family crisis; a woman awaiting childbirth, a family preparing for Christmas, a creative writing class going haywire. It has all the ingredients of a fascinating collection. I will be audacious in admitting that if Alice Munro were to write shorter stories, it would read exactly like this collection. There is humour mixed with terseness; anger mixed with tenderness, and love mixed with hate. My favourites were of a young girl writing a love letter to her boyfriend at school, a family getting the shock of their lives when their father turns into a boar, and another of a woman tired of waiting for the child to get out her body. Simpson writes with a clarity of thought rarely observable. She has a way with writing excellently about food. I enjoy writing where food plays a central role. In most of her stories, food was significant if not the only determinant of the characters's lives. I heartily recommend this collection if you're in the mood for stories that can keep you entertained. I am waiting to read more of Simpson in the years to come. Happy new year. I wish for more books in the coming year(s).
January 15, 2022
3 stars
This book was consistently 'quite good'. All the short stories were interesting without being hugely engaging. The writing on a surface level was really good, and there was a lot of interesting themes presented, but a lot of the characterisation felt flat and the same ideas were presented over and over again. Although different perspectives were brought to these issues (namely babies and young adulthood) it did still feel a bit samey and the lack of variety impacted my enjoyment. Sometimes, because of the format, there was also a slight lack of clarity, although this was rare. I don't read many short stories, and thought this was good without being anything special. I would probably not recommend, but if you enjoy this format or want to broaden the genres you read then you would probably enjoy this.
This book was consistently 'quite good'. All the short stories were interesting without being hugely engaging. The writing on a surface level was really good, and there was a lot of interesting themes presented, but a lot of the characterisation felt flat and the same ideas were presented over and over again. Although different perspectives were brought to these issues (namely babies and young adulthood) it did still feel a bit samey and the lack of variety impacted my enjoyment. Sometimes, because of the format, there was also a slight lack of clarity, although this was rare. I don't read many short stories, and thought this was good without being anything special. I would probably not recommend, but if you enjoy this format or want to broaden the genres you read then you would probably enjoy this.
August 15, 2013
Helen is an old school friend of mine. She was brilliant at writing short stories then and even more brilliant now. Perhaps appealing more to women of a certain age these stories ring true every time.
November 24, 2017
Most of the stories left me feeling a bit 'meh'.
January 16, 2023
This is the last Helen Simpson book on my tbr shelf and I was really looking forward to it having absolutely adored all my previous encounters with her writing but wow! The first few stories have thrown me a wobbly….I’m assuming it’s me that’s changed not her because I was really thinking the writing is a wee bit pretentious and even classist and I really just didn’t enjoy them at all…but then,
Panic over!
Every short story collection has one or two that don’t gel with every reader. I thought I’d have to go and find my real head because I’d clearly screwed the wrong one on.
But then…..
“Your fondness for dubiety, the way you prize the fluid and infinite possibilities which unfurl before an unattached person, these I sympathise with utterly. You cry freedom and I hear you. Harbouring the sense that there’s an epiphany just around the corner, you wait, breath bated, creatively passive, for the chance phrase or glance that will crystallise it all, show you what your life is about and where it is leading. You lack the desire to commit yourself. You tell me you are not ready for the responsibility of a child, and why should you be, my darling? You’re only thirty-six.”
These words and the couple of stories after this one connected with, and really resonated with my experience as a young working woman and as a young mother.
And I thought, all good, here she is, the astute and acerbic, wise and sassy, Helen Simpson as I remember her being; and the story Heavy Weather had such sharp painful resonance I almost feel she had spied on me and my young family and told the tale here. And then it turns out that I read it in a precious collection that I red back in 2017!
And then, the next few stories again! Sorry but I yawned my way through them.
A real mixed bag, it’s definitely me, not the book!
3 stars is generous I think.
Panic over!
Every short story collection has one or two that don’t gel with every reader. I thought I’d have to go and find my real head because I’d clearly screwed the wrong one on.
But then…..
“Your fondness for dubiety, the way you prize the fluid and infinite possibilities which unfurl before an unattached person, these I sympathise with utterly. You cry freedom and I hear you. Harbouring the sense that there’s an epiphany just around the corner, you wait, breath bated, creatively passive, for the chance phrase or glance that will crystallise it all, show you what your life is about and where it is leading. You lack the desire to commit yourself. You tell me you are not ready for the responsibility of a child, and why should you be, my darling? You’re only thirty-six.”
These words and the couple of stories after this one connected with, and really resonated with my experience as a young working woman and as a young mother.
And I thought, all good, here she is, the astute and acerbic, wise and sassy, Helen Simpson as I remember her being; and the story Heavy Weather had such sharp painful resonance I almost feel she had spied on me and my young family and told the tale here. And then it turns out that I read it in a precious collection that I red back in 2017!
And then, the next few stories again! Sorry but I yawned my way through them.
A real mixed bag, it’s definitely me, not the book!
3 stars is generous I think.
March 16, 2020
The reviews on the cover describe these stories as laugh-out-loud funny, yet I found most of them to be very sad. Good though.
October 4, 2022
Underwhelming.
I was hoping that at least one of the stories would stand out, but it was just.... Linear. Not exactly boring but almost.
I was hoping that at least one of the stories would stand out, but it was just.... Linear. Not exactly boring but almost.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews