Constitutional: Stories

by Helen Simpson

A sensational new short story collection from Britain’s master of the genre. Perfectly crafted and deliciously entertaining, she explores the spaces we inhabit — both physically and mentally — and delves into the relationships between change, memory and experience.

Genres: Short Stories, London, Fiction, Humor, British Literature

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Helen 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.

Reviews

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting selection from one of my favourite short story tellers

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Constitutional, Helen Simpson visits various characters as seemingly small events make a more significant impact in their life. It is a short book, 133 pages with nine stories, focussing on characters that are in Midlife.

Opener The Door looks at the difficulties of ordering a new door after a break-in. The stilted dialogue between the unnamed protagonist and the door fitter Matthew both take care in their work, hanging and painting the door for the best fit, giving a much-needed sense of security to the homeowner. The spare details in the writing about the break-in hint at a lot more going on under the surface.

This Year's Midnight finds Marian at the Swimming Pool, reflecting on life at Winter Solstice. She sees the other women her age complaining about swimming, and the impact it has on their bodies, and as the story progresses, she comforts a young child, and makes a connection of sorts with the child's mother, going home to the Czech Republic. Their conversation is both brittle and also caring.

Every Third Thought is set within a family group, going through a series of deaths and illnesses, which happens to every family. The ending, which sees the protagonist losing a leg due to an accident, and the time she spent dwelling on and worrying about things that never happened is bought into sharp relief.

Early one Morning finds Zoe in the car, talking to her son about not swearing before opening up the story's focus, looking at life, friendships, and how big things always come back to the small things.
If I Am Spared finds Tom, a philandering heavy smoking, heavy-drinking man, who finds a new love and regard for his long-neglected wife when he believes a cancer diagnosis is forthcoming. When he gets the all-clear, though, he, like the reader, knows he will be going back to his old ways, unchanged and unrepentant.

The final story, Constitutional, is probably the most accomplished in the collection. It focuses on a walk taken by an unnamed protagonist, walking home, following a friend's funeral. The story is her internal monologue, musing on friendships, death, crossword clues, and overheard conversations.
Constitutional is Helen Simpson's fourth collection of short stories and shows some fine developments in one of the Short Story forms more accomplished practitioners.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Constitutional, Helen Simpson visits various characters as seemingly small events make a more significant impact in their life. It is a short book, 133 pages with nine stories, focussing on characters that are in Midlife.
Opener The Door looks at the difficulties of ordering a new door after a break-in. The stilted dialogue between the unnamed protagonist and the door fitter Matthew both take care in their work, hanging and painting the door for best fit, giving a much-needed sense of security to the homeowner. The spare details in the writing about the break-in hint at a lot more going on under the surface.
This Year's Midnight finds Marian at the Swimming Pool, reflecting on life at Winter Solstice. She sees the other women her age complaining about swimming, the impact it has on their bodies, and as the story progresses, she comforts a young child, makes a connection of sorts with the child's mother, going home to the Czech republic. Their conversation is both brittle and also caring.
Every Third Thought is set within a family group, going through a series of deaths and illnesses, which happens to every family. The ending, which sees the protagonist losing a leg due to an accident, the time she spent dwelling on, and worrying about things that never happened are bought into sharp relief.
Early one Morning finds Zoe in the car, talking to her son about not swearing before opening up the story's focus, looking at life, friendships, and how big things always come back to the small things.
If I am Spared finds Tom, a philandering heavy smoking, heavy drinker man, who finds a new love and regard for his long-neglected wife when he believes a cancer diagnosis is forthcoming. When he gets the all-clear, though, he, like the reader, knows he will be going back to his old ways, unchanged and unrepentant.
The final story, Constitutional, is probably the most accomplished in the collection. It focuses on a walk taken by an unnamed protagonist, walking home, following a friend's funeral. The story is her internal monologue, musing on friendships, death, crossword clues, and overheard conversations.
Constitutional is Helen Simpson fourth collection of short stories and shows some fine developments in one of the Short Story forms more accomplished practitioners.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Constitutional, Helen Simpson visits various characters as seemingly small events make a more significant impact in their life. It is a short book, 133 pages with nine stories, focussing on characters that are in Midlife.
Opener The Door looks at the difficulties of ordering a new door after a break-in. The stilted dialogue between the unnamed protagonist and the door fitter Matthew both take care in their work, hanging and painting the door for best fit, giving a much-needed sense of security to the homeowner. The spare details in the writing about the break-in hint at a lot more going on under the surface.
This Year's Midnight finds Marian at the Swimming Pool, reflecting on life at Winter Solstice. She sees the other women her age complaining about swimming, the impact it has on their bodies, and as the story progresses, she comforts a young child, makes a connection of sorts with the child's mother, going home to the Czech republic. Their conversation is both brittle and also caring.
Every Third Thought is set within a family group, going through a series of deaths and illnesses, which happens to every family. The ending, which sees the protagonist losing a leg due to an accident, the time she spent dwelling on, and worrying about things that never happened are bought into sharp relief.
Early one Morning finds Zoe in the car, talking to her son about not swearing before opening up the story's focus, looking at life, friendships, and how big things always come back to the small things.
If I am Spared finds Tom, a philandering heavy smoking, heavy drinking man, who finds a new love and regard for his long-neglected wife when he believes a cancer diagnosis is forthcoming. When he gets the all-clear, though, he, like the reader, knows he will be going back to his old ways, unchanged and unrepentant.
The final story, Constitutional, is probably the most accomplished in the collection. It focuses on a walk taken by an unnamed protagonist, walking home, following a friend's funeral. The story is her internal monologue, musing on friendships, death, crossword clues, and overheard conversations.
Constitutional is Helen Simpson's fourth collection of short stories and shows some fine developments in one of the Short Story forms more accomplished practitioners.

[Maggie Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories that mostly relate to mortality, ageing, illness, and surviving (or not). They are humane, relatable slices of challenged lives and challenges to the way we approach situations in life. Perhaps not one to read if you've just had a cancer diagnosis or found out that a relative has dementia, though....

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Helen Simpson's style, her writing and perspective but did not think this was one of her better collections. I enjoyed reading it but do not think it will live in my memory as others have

[Jasmine J · Rating 3 out of 5]

great book, some very poetic parts but others that i didnt get

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection

[Joe Harrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books I have ever read.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favourite story: Early One Morning

[Sarahjoy Maddeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of short stories. There are similarities across all the stories, but they are not too same-y that you get bored of reading them in quick succession (as I did). They are easy to read, a good length, but still contain some detailed descriptive passages and some deep underlying thoughts. As a walker, I enjoyed joining the protagonist on her lunchtime constitutional in the title story (don't worry, it's *that* kind of constitutional, not a complex political examination of rights and wrongs); and "The Green Room" was apt to read as my inner Scrooge threatens to rear her head, provoked by the early appearance of Christmas products in the shops as I battle to hold onto the summer for as long as possible. I would read more by this author.

[Steven Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories with themes that trouble us as we crest the hill of life and start on the downward journey would be my summary of this collection. I didn't enjoy them as consistently as I did the ones in "hey yeah right... ". However some I did like a lot (the door, early one morning, if I'm spared) and there were some great moments of recognition. ( no thought could take wing with the under-5s; they need you in the room all the time)!

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randomly chosen from my pile(s) of books and it is book 89 of 2011 - aim 133 books in 2011

Merged review:

Randomly chosen from my pile(s) of books and it is book 89 of 2011 - aim 133 books in 2011

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5