A Patch of Blue

by Brian Mullally

Sometimes funny, tearful, serious or all three, these stories give the reader little chance to recover, as they change from contemporary to the historic, love to war, personal to public, offering a pot-pourri of the author's work. Culled from the treasury of Brian Mullally's collection of short stories, the series includes several award winning stories.

174 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2011

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

No doubt all of us have had the experience of reading a book and not disliking it, but not being enthralled by it either. Halfway through you find yourself asking the question: Is there quality in the writing even though it is not a narrative style that appeals to me?

This was my experience when I read Brian Mullally’s short story collection “A Patch of Blue”. I decided there was indeed quality in the stories and pushed on to the end of the collection.

I should confess my biases. My desire, in novels or short stories, is for well-articulated plots with a clear arch, high drama, deep character studies and a twist, a clear resolution or a lesson learned at the end. I am coming to realize that I am in the minority. Modern fiction seems to be trending toward plot lines that move along on an even keel and wind down without tangible resolution.

The stories in “A Patch of Blue” are sometimes serious but do not dive too deeply into the drama. Others are light and amusing or tearful but still stay on an even plane. I do recognize the quality and craft in Mullally’s writing. But his stories do not leave me satisfied.

In conclusion, I cannot recommend “A Patch of Blue” but I will not steer you away from it either. If you like the way modern fiction is trending, you may well enjoy this varied and at times insightful collection of stories.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories. There are a few recurrent themes, including, old age, war, property and land ownership; but on the whole, each story is distinct from the others and each story is like a little world, or a window into a world, or another person's perspective. It's an entertaining collection of stories that held my interest. The author has a talent for creating lifelike characters and taking everyday situations and turning them into thought-provoking prose. Many of the stories deal with the idea that memories shape our lives, and often the characters in the stories are looking back on events from the past. I thought the last story in the collection, 'My First Canadian' was particularly poignant. Many of the stories contain an element of humour offsetting the darker or more serious themes. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to get lost in a good story.

[Carol Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are twenty stories in the collection, spanning a variety of themes, from war to love to every day life. There's a man confronted by his own future; a woman who learns the power of pink; and a mystery involving uncut diamonds.

Given the choice between the contemporary and historical stories, I'd have to say I enjoyed the historical ones the most, they were like little windows into the past. A few of the contemporary stories were more a slice of life than a true story, but for the most part I enjoyed them all.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great variety of stories from many eras, the final one was my favourite, the local connection (he lives in my area) helps me make a connection