Three and a Half Deaths

by Emma Donoghue

An accident, a suicide, an act of criminal negligence and a near-death experience. Published by Picador as a 'Short Reads' ebook in December 2011, bringing together four fact-inspired stories from France, the USA and Canada.

What the Driver Saw is inspired by a freak accident on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, the 1920s equivalent of Princess Diana’s last ride through Paris.

The Trap takes us to New York in the 1870s, when a woman at the centre of a public scandal decides she’s had enough.

Sissy, inspired by the discovery of a pioneer coffin in London, Ontario, is about the lingering effects of a death on the living.

Fall explores an incident at Niagara Falls in 1901 when a middle-aged schoolteacher staked her future on an act so daring it could be called suicidal.

Genres: Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction, Historical

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2011

About the author

Grew up in Ireland, 20s in England doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature, since then in Canada. Best known for my novel, film and play ROOM, also other contemporary and historical novels and short stories, non-fiction, theatre and middle-grade novels.

Reviews

[BrokenTune · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, just when I decided that Three and a Half Deaths would be my last Donoghue ever (simply because it is the last of her books I have on my kindle), she pulls four short stories out of the bag that I really enjoyed reading:

What the Driver Saw - set in the south of France in the 1920s and based on a true story.

The Trap - set in New York in the 1870s and telling of a crime, but who committed it?

Sissy - set in London, Ontario, describing the effect of the death of a family member.

Fall - set at Niagara Falls in 1901 tells of bravery or is it recklessness?

All four stories are of different styles, different eras and predicaments, but all have death at the heart of the story.

Maybe there is hope for me and Donoghue's books, yet?

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter what the genre this author excels at everything. These short stories are wonderful. They were written I believe before Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman, so the women in them are real, the thoughts and feelings fiction. I could devour a whole book of these. A brief bio of the woman in the story accompanies. Very small edition however!

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were great,so evocative considering how short they are.

With short stories I often find the stories are really similar but these were really distinctive and they're all based on real events which I found interesting.

[Julia Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma Donoghue writes a great historical story. I really loved Slammerkin. This collection of very short stories were ok. I liked the first one best which was about the Death of Isadora Duncan but the others weren't particularly good.

[Katie Nairne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but good - interesting stories based on real historical incidents.

[Kru · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very quick read, well written, pacy, and perfectly finished stories.

I loved Sissy a little more than the rest.

[Aldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. An interesting and morbid little collection. Emma Donoghue does a good short story, as ever.

[Richard Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four little gems of stories in a very quick read. They deal with subjects as different as subjects can be yet all are suffused with a melancholy empathy.

[Ally Atherton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a short collection of four stories by the Author of the amazing novel 'Room'.
Each story is loosely based on actual historical events in four separate parts of the world and are followed by a short note from the Author. I have yet to read any of Emma Donoghue's historical novels but this has given me a taste of what I have in store. Each of the stories are as brief as they are powerful and intense. The fact that they are based upon actual events made the book even more interesting.

As with most short story collections I found myself wanting more but that is what you get with this format. An enjoyable read and a reminder that I really want to read more historical novels.I must read more from this talented Author.

[Cheyenne Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four short stories, all based on true historical events, from the author of "Frog Music" collected together in one small book. All are good, all are well-written, but I didn't feel very strongly about three of them. The standout for me was "Sissy". A girl fails to watch her toddler sister closely and the child drowns. As the family is poor, she is buried at the end of the garden in the cedar wood. Over the years, as the older sister remains in the area, she remembers her sister and the grave goes from being in a quiet wood to part of a city.

[T P Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a miscellany of four stories that didn't fit with her printed short story collections. As such it's a hodge podge. Two of the stories are excellent and two are very slight. For the price, it's worth a read.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four short stories dealing with the subject of death. The deaths are historical - one well-known (to me at least), but the others less so and the author weaves her own interpretations of these events into narratives that are ripe with imagination.

[Frances Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

You wouldn't want to spend a vast amount of money purchasing this collection of four short stories, all inspired by real events or people or findings. Each has its own style but all four are comfortably and satisfyingly told.

[Sonja Trbojevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, in this small collection of short stories, Donoghue breathes life into historical character, and the people who encounter them.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four enjoyable short stories.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving, magical and thought provoking - a wonderful quick read, but definitely encouraged me to read more of Emma Donoghue's work (first thing I'd read by her).

[Ficie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read. Four well-written stories based on real cases. Although the stories are short, Donoghue manages to infuse a spark in each character. Enjoyable.