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Reality, Reality
Jackie Kay's newest and most luminous of collections is full of compassion, generosity, sorrow and joy. In fifteen extraordinary stories, she celebrates the richness and power of dream-life to inspire, to repair and to make real. [description from the inner flap]
242 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2011
13 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Jackie Kay
106 books435 followersBorn in Glasgow in 1961 to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father, Kay was adopted by a white couple, Helen and John Kay, as a baby. Brought up in Bishopbriggs, a Glasgow suburb, she has an older adopted brother, Maxwell as well as siblings by her adoptive parents.
Kay's adoptive father worked full-time for the Communist Party and stood for election as a Member of Parliament, and her adoptive mother was the secretary of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Initially harbouring ambitions to be an actress, she decided to concentrate on writing after encouragement by Alasdair Gray. She studied English at the University of Stirling and her first book of poetry, the partially autobiographical The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991, and won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award. Her other awards include the 1994 Somerset Maugham Award for Other Lovers, and the Guardian Fiction Prize for Trumpet, based on the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton, born Dorothy Tipton, who lived as a man for the last fifty years of her life.
Kay writes extensively stage, screen, and for children. In 2010 she published Red Dust Road, an account of her search for her birth parents, a white Scottish woman, and a Nigerian man. Her birth parents met when her father was a student at Aberdeen University and her mother was a nurse. Her drama The Lamplighter is an exploration of the Atlantic slave trade. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in March 2007 and published in poem form in 2008.
Jackie Kay became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Kay lives in Manchester.
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. THE ADOPTION PAPERS (Bloodaxe, 1991) won the Forward Prize, a Saltire prize and a Scottish Arts Council Prize. DARLING was a poetry book society choice. FIERE, her most recent collection of poems was shortlisted for the COSTA award. Her novel TRUMPET won the Guardian Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the IMPAC award. RED DUST ROAD, (Picador) won the Scottish Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the JR ACKERLEY prize and the LONDON BOOK AWARD. She was awarded an MBE in 2006, and made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002. Her book of stories WISH I WAS HERE won the Decibel British Book Award.
She also writes for children and her book RED CHERRY RED (Bloomsbury) won the CLYPE award. She has written extensively for stage and television. Her play MANCHESTER LINES produced by Manchester Library Theatre was on this year in Manchester. Her new book of short stories REALITY, REALITY was recently published by Picador. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University.
Kay's adoptive father worked full-time for the Communist Party and stood for election as a Member of Parliament, and her adoptive mother was the secretary of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Initially harbouring ambitions to be an actress, she decided to concentrate on writing after encouragement by Alasdair Gray. She studied English at the University of Stirling and her first book of poetry, the partially autobiographical The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991, and won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award. Her other awards include the 1994 Somerset Maugham Award for Other Lovers, and the Guardian Fiction Prize for Trumpet, based on the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton, born Dorothy Tipton, who lived as a man for the last fifty years of her life.
Kay writes extensively stage, screen, and for children. In 2010 she published Red Dust Road, an account of her search for her birth parents, a white Scottish woman, and a Nigerian man. Her birth parents met when her father was a student at Aberdeen University and her mother was a nurse. Her drama The Lamplighter is an exploration of the Atlantic slave trade. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in March 2007 and published in poem form in 2008.
Jackie Kay became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Kay lives in Manchester.
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. THE ADOPTION PAPERS (Bloodaxe, 1991) won the Forward Prize, a Saltire prize and a Scottish Arts Council Prize. DARLING was a poetry book society choice. FIERE, her most recent collection of poems was shortlisted for the COSTA award. Her novel TRUMPET won the Guardian Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the IMPAC award. RED DUST ROAD, (Picador) won the Scottish Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the JR ACKERLEY prize and the LONDON BOOK AWARD. She was awarded an MBE in 2006, and made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002. Her book of stories WISH I WAS HERE won the Decibel British Book Award.
She also writes for children and her book RED CHERRY RED (Bloomsbury) won the CLYPE award. She has written extensively for stage and television. Her play MANCHESTER LINES produced by Manchester Library Theatre was on this year in Manchester. Her new book of short stories REALITY, REALITY was recently published by Picador. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 24, 2019
Of Scottish author Jackie Kay's work, I have to date read two poetry collections, Bantam and The Adoption Papers. I liked the core ideas of both collections, but was ultimately disappointed by them. For me, neither quite came together as well as I was expecting. I was still keen, however, to pick up some of her fiction whilst still living in Scotland, and decided to get myself a copy of Reality, Reality from Fopp. This, her third collection of short stories, was first published in 2012.
All of the stories within Reality, Reality focus upon women, and also on variations of loss. It is, says its blurb, a collection 'full of compassion, generosity, sorrow and joy', and brings together fifteen 'unforgettable stories [which] explore the power of the imagination to make things real...'. The Observer comments that 'Existential questions of contemporary life are at the heart of this hilarious, heartbreaking collection that skilfully slots large ideas into small squares', and The Times calls it 'spiky' and 'off-the-wall'.
Somewhat unusual occurrences happen in some, but not all, of these stories. In the title tale, the protagonist, Stef, imagines that she has been picked for the semi-finals of a cookery programme, and attempts to cook culinary delights within set time limits, critiquing herself harshly as she does so. 'These are not my clothes' is narrated by a woman living with memory loss, shut within a facility where those around her have faces 'like the empty bowls, lined and ridged with the remains of things.' 'The First Lady of Song' is told from the perspective of a 300-year-old woman, who has been reincarnated as many different famous female singers throughout history. As even this short list demonstrates, Reality, Reality comprises some tales which are realist, and others which have a touch of magical realism to them.
Some of the tales here are sad; others are hopeful and joyous. 'Grace and Rose', for example, is a brief story told from the perspective of two women, who have been a couple for twenty years, and are finally being allowed to marry in Scotland. There are some very thoughtful, considered moments in several of the stories. When the narrator of 'The First Lady of Song' recounts all of her children who have passed away from various diseases over time - 'typhus, whooping cough, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, cholera, small pox, influenza' - for instance, she goes on to reflect and lament about the fact that she is still living: 'It was never for me, death, never going to be handed to me on a lovely silver platter, not the gurgle or the snap or the thud or the whack or the slide of it, death. No. I was consigned to listening to the peal of church bells barely change over the stretch of years.' This was a clever and quite original story. Sadly, some of the others collected here were less engaging, due to the similar narrative voices which were used, or to Kay's use of overexaggerated dialects.
Some of these stories I connected with, and others I did not. Whilst I liked the real variation in plot which Kay gives, I did find the less memorable, realist stories to be quite similar on the whole. Kay does give a voice to those in the LGBT community, an element which feels so important in this collection, but I did not feel as though their relationships were often explored enough. I found Kay's writing a little inconsistent; sometimes, as in 'These are not my clothes', it is poignant and beautiful, but at others, it falls a little flat. Regardless, Reality, Reality is an inclusive collection; Kay has considered women from different walks of life, and who are at different stages in their lives. There are a lot of themes which can be identified here, from loneliness and ageing to poverty and human trafficking.
Despite the moments of brilliance in Reality, Reality, and a couple of very realistic character creations, I did find the collection a little brief, and on the whole underdeveloped. Whilst this is by no means a bad short story collection, I failed to connect to many of the stories, and a lot of them simply did not personally appeal. I do not feel as though many of the tales are going to be at all memorable, and the stories which deal with the everyday just did not stand out for me. I'm not going to rush out to read any more of Kay's work, as I feel as though I've given it a fair go now. Sadly, Reality, Reality was, for me, rather underwhelming.
All of the stories within Reality, Reality focus upon women, and also on variations of loss. It is, says its blurb, a collection 'full of compassion, generosity, sorrow and joy', and brings together fifteen 'unforgettable stories [which] explore the power of the imagination to make things real...'. The Observer comments that 'Existential questions of contemporary life are at the heart of this hilarious, heartbreaking collection that skilfully slots large ideas into small squares', and The Times calls it 'spiky' and 'off-the-wall'.
Somewhat unusual occurrences happen in some, but not all, of these stories. In the title tale, the protagonist, Stef, imagines that she has been picked for the semi-finals of a cookery programme, and attempts to cook culinary delights within set time limits, critiquing herself harshly as she does so. 'These are not my clothes' is narrated by a woman living with memory loss, shut within a facility where those around her have faces 'like the empty bowls, lined and ridged with the remains of things.' 'The First Lady of Song' is told from the perspective of a 300-year-old woman, who has been reincarnated as many different famous female singers throughout history. As even this short list demonstrates, Reality, Reality comprises some tales which are realist, and others which have a touch of magical realism to them.
Some of the tales here are sad; others are hopeful and joyous. 'Grace and Rose', for example, is a brief story told from the perspective of two women, who have been a couple for twenty years, and are finally being allowed to marry in Scotland. There are some very thoughtful, considered moments in several of the stories. When the narrator of 'The First Lady of Song' recounts all of her children who have passed away from various diseases over time - 'typhus, whooping cough, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, cholera, small pox, influenza' - for instance, she goes on to reflect and lament about the fact that she is still living: 'It was never for me, death, never going to be handed to me on a lovely silver platter, not the gurgle or the snap or the thud or the whack or the slide of it, death. No. I was consigned to listening to the peal of church bells barely change over the stretch of years.' This was a clever and quite original story. Sadly, some of the others collected here were less engaging, due to the similar narrative voices which were used, or to Kay's use of overexaggerated dialects.
Some of these stories I connected with, and others I did not. Whilst I liked the real variation in plot which Kay gives, I did find the less memorable, realist stories to be quite similar on the whole. Kay does give a voice to those in the LGBT community, an element which feels so important in this collection, but I did not feel as though their relationships were often explored enough. I found Kay's writing a little inconsistent; sometimes, as in 'These are not my clothes', it is poignant and beautiful, but at others, it falls a little flat. Regardless, Reality, Reality is an inclusive collection; Kay has considered women from different walks of life, and who are at different stages in their lives. There are a lot of themes which can be identified here, from loneliness and ageing to poverty and human trafficking.
Despite the moments of brilliance in Reality, Reality, and a couple of very realistic character creations, I did find the collection a little brief, and on the whole underdeveloped. Whilst this is by no means a bad short story collection, I failed to connect to many of the stories, and a lot of them simply did not personally appeal. I do not feel as though many of the tales are going to be at all memorable, and the stories which deal with the everyday just did not stand out for me. I'm not going to rush out to read any more of Kay's work, as I feel as though I've given it a fair go now. Sadly, Reality, Reality was, for me, rather underwhelming.
March 3, 2025
I will forever be captain of the Jackie Kay fan club
June 19, 2014
I wanted to adore this book of short stories as much as I adored Red Dust Road and The Adoption Papers (which have been two of my favourite books this year). And I did enjoy it; there were some stand-out stories, but peppered in between were a few that fell flat for me.
Kay's concept for the book is that reality is stranger - or worse - than fiction. The opening quote from Flaubert: "We writers may think we invent too much - but reality is worse, every time." She deals with mental decline, abuse, alcoholism, obesity and depression. Sounds grim doesn't it?? But that is the beauty of the book - the strange or awful concepts of Kay's stories embedded in reality.
In The First Lady of Song we hear of the tribulations of a woman able to live forever:
"I have not loved for so many years, I can't really be sure of how it feels, if it is good or if it is frightening. If it is deep, how deep it goes, to which parts of the body and the mind? I have no real idea. My biggest achievement was getting rid of it altogether. What a relief!I remember that. The sensation of it! The day that I discovered I could no longer love. It was like a lovely breeze on a hot day. It billowed and felt really quite fine." (45).
These are Not my Clothes tells the achingly sad story of a woman in a rest home, losing her mind to dementia and suffering at the hands of her carers. The graceful flow of the words sweeps up the reader, taking them - meandering - along with the first person narrative. Until you realise what is actually going on. Poignant and beautiful.
I also enjoyed Doorstep (about a woman determined to spend Christmas alone) and Kay's foray into horror and/or madness - The White Cot (I was scared). I enjoyed the drunken debates and intimacy of two friends in The Last of the Smokers.
It was interesting to see Kay's birth-mother come up as a character in the book. I guess that is one of the joys of reading fiction and non-fiction by the same author, you start to identify where the lines blur. I found it an interesting study of how a writer fictionalises her own experience, and to what extent.
I will always love you Jackie Kay! Come back to the NZ Writer's Festival some time!
Kay's concept for the book is that reality is stranger - or worse - than fiction. The opening quote from Flaubert: "We writers may think we invent too much - but reality is worse, every time." She deals with mental decline, abuse, alcoholism, obesity and depression. Sounds grim doesn't it?? But that is the beauty of the book - the strange or awful concepts of Kay's stories embedded in reality.
In The First Lady of Song we hear of the tribulations of a woman able to live forever:
"I have not loved for so many years, I can't really be sure of how it feels, if it is good or if it is frightening. If it is deep, how deep it goes, to which parts of the body and the mind? I have no real idea. My biggest achievement was getting rid of it altogether. What a relief!I remember that. The sensation of it! The day that I discovered I could no longer love. It was like a lovely breeze on a hot day. It billowed and felt really quite fine." (45).
These are Not my Clothes tells the achingly sad story of a woman in a rest home, losing her mind to dementia and suffering at the hands of her carers. The graceful flow of the words sweeps up the reader, taking them - meandering - along with the first person narrative. Until you realise what is actually going on. Poignant and beautiful.
I also enjoyed Doorstep (about a woman determined to spend Christmas alone) and Kay's foray into horror and/or madness - The White Cot (I was scared). I enjoyed the drunken debates and intimacy of two friends in The Last of the Smokers.
It was interesting to see Kay's birth-mother come up as a character in the book. I guess that is one of the joys of reading fiction and non-fiction by the same author, you start to identify where the lines blur. I found it an interesting study of how a writer fictionalises her own experience, and to what extent.
I will always love you Jackie Kay! Come back to the NZ Writer's Festival some time!
May 27, 2018
I loved this short story collection. I first picked it up in the library in 2014. Now I have my own copy and have read/re-read the whole thing :)
It's poetic, funny, lets the marginalised speak. Each story is told in the first-person, by a woman. Three of the standouts for me were:
The First Lady of Song (one of the few with speculative elements)
Grace and Rose (a gorgeous account of a lesbian wedding on Shetland, and of the couple's love for each other: 'Our wedding is drawing nearer and in three peerie days' time I will have married her, after twenty years of saying I do and I love you in as many ways ...')
The Winter Visitor (depression is personified: 'Perhaps she enjoys the fact that she comes unannounced; she's terribly arrogant. It's difficult to tell because she says very little.')
It's poetic, funny, lets the marginalised speak. Each story is told in the first-person, by a woman. Three of the standouts for me were:
The First Lady of Song (one of the few with speculative elements)
Grace and Rose (a gorgeous account of a lesbian wedding on Shetland, and of the couple's love for each other: 'Our wedding is drawing nearer and in three peerie days' time I will have married her, after twenty years of saying I do and I love you in as many ways ...')
The Winter Visitor (depression is personified: 'Perhaps she enjoys the fact that she comes unannounced; she's terribly arrogant. It's difficult to tell because she says very little.')
March 8, 2021
I didn't know what to expect going into it but I LOVED this book. Not every single story is great (hence four instead of five stars) but the vast majority is brilliant. Jackie Kay has the ability to conjure up a three-dimensional human being, a life, in a few pages and that is really hard to do. As illustrated by the disappointing books I've tried to read since I finished Reality, Reality. I'm already getting nostalgic about this collection.
Some stories are sad but there are a lot of (unexpected) comedic moments. One of many things I loved was how Kay takes a mundane premise (Scottish woman goes on a diet, for instance) and makes it entertaining, funny, moving. Giving me all the feels while avoiding clichés. It feels quite celebratory. This is exactly the sort of thing I want to read.
Some stories are sad but there are a lot of (unexpected) comedic moments. One of many things I loved was how Kay takes a mundane premise (Scottish woman goes on a diet, for instance) and makes it entertaining, funny, moving. Giving me all the feels while avoiding clichés. It feels quite celebratory. This is exactly the sort of thing I want to read.
March 3, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ I’m just not a short story collection girl I fear
July 12, 2023
Whether a short poem, a novel or just hearing her speak at an event @jackiekaypoet never fails to move me, make me laugh out loud and more importantly make me think. Her short story collection Reality, Reality is no exception.
What I love most about Jackie’s writing is that it often explores stories of ordinary lives, amplifying our every day thoughts, anxieties and memories making us really reflect on them. This shines through the most in Reality, Reality, fifteen stories letting us into the lives of the women inside.
From the next fad diet, stopping smoking, wedding days and last years of our lives there is plenty to reflect on in each story. Jackie uses the imagination to take these moments in a woman’s life to a whole new level.
We all know how beautiful Jackie Kay can write (and if you don’t I suggest you learn!), but her witty humour comes through tenfold.
As a queer woman there is something about the way queer stories are told in Reality, Reality that made me feel in safe hands. I’m not entirely sure why that is. It might simply be because they come across as authentic and relatable but I think it might be something more. These are written as completely ordinary people with completely ordinary thoughts just like the other women’s stories, when often our stories aren’t told like this. There’s just something nice about reading this and being able to relate as I live my entirely mundane life and have similar mundane problems. FYI “Grace and Rose” would definitely bring a tear to a glass eye though. 👀 💛
Imaginative, inclusive, hilarious and moving there’s something for everyone in Reality, Reality and proves that Jackie Kay can do no wrong.
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September 18, 2022Something about Jackie Kay's work immediately attracts me. Like Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith, Kay finds in me reader ready to go anywhere she chooses to take me. One thing I really enjoy is that not all her stories, no matter how serious their subjects, have catastrophic or open endings--both of which are quite common in contemporary fiction.
March 7, 2020
Jackie Kay does a good job here at making the reader walk inside the shoes of all the characters present in these fifteen stories. I like it when authors are able to create characters and give them life and soul even if it’s just for ten pages or so.
As someone with very little experience when it comes to LGBT literature - apart from Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, and that’s it - I am glad to have mostly enjoyed this.
My favourite stories on here were “Reality, Reality”, “The First Lady of Song” (great brushes with fantasy), “Doorstep” (lovely Christmas story) and “Hadassah”.
As someone with very little experience when it comes to LGBT literature - apart from Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, and that’s it - I am glad to have mostly enjoyed this.
My favourite stories on here were “Reality, Reality”, “The First Lady of Song” (great brushes with fantasy), “Doorstep” (lovely Christmas story) and “Hadassah”.
April 21, 2013
i really liked this book. i'm really glad i did, because it feels like ages since i massively enjoyed a book, since i got the immense pleasure you can get out of reading. i liked 'instructions for a heatwave', and objectively it was excellent, but i didn't love it - the ending was particularly good, but overall it didn't fully absorb me. 'misery' was good for what it is, really good even, but i'd never read it again. really i haven't been reading enough lately so that's probably why i haven't loved anything lately. too much studying and nonfiction. anyway, this isn't much of a review, but, i loved these stories.
October 25, 2016
Jackie Kay, as ever, is incredible in her ability to narrate stories of women's internal struggles, whether related to their weight,appearance, addictions or mental health issues. She is poignant, sharp, often to the point of crudeness, and very cleverly uses slang or a Scottish-accent in her narrative to transmit that raw reality. Reality is indeed warped and twisted in this collection of short stories; so much so that even readers are left wondering whether what they have just read is really happening, if it is a projection of their own unease and past experience, or if it is all just plainly there, on paper, tangible and real.
September 11, 2016
An excellent collection of short stories about the difficulties women face in life. Extremely empathetic and humane. I found the stories very sad, almost too sad to read sometimes, but there is also great positivity in the sense of determination and diverse life and humour with which these women face their difficulties.There is however no real feeling that change could happen; it seems more just an exploration of the oddity of human nature with the most positive outcome being for us to cling together and support one another in the face of troubles.
November 22, 2014
This is by far the best short-story collection I have read (granted there haven't been many). There is a cohesiveness across the collection that I have found missing in others, while each story felt individual and unique.
Kay writes with heart and care, dealing with a number of difficult subjects such as alcoholism, depression and dementia, and her characters truly come to life.
If you haven't read any Kay before, this is certainly a great place to start!
Kay writes with heart and care, dealing with a number of difficult subjects such as alcoholism, depression and dementia, and her characters truly come to life.
If you haven't read any Kay before, this is certainly a great place to start!
September 20, 2015
Loads of great short stories here. My favourites- 'Bread Bin', 'Minds Away', 'The Last Smokers' and 'Mini Me'. Themes of mental illness, lesbianism, identity, relationships & some fun Scottish vernacular.
February 27, 2013
Started this thinking I was off short stories and that I wouldn't get into it. Soon seduced by the lovely voices of Ms Kay ..and she left me wanting more.
February 10, 2014
Jackie Kaye's enthusiastic approach to life shines throughout this book of very credible and candid stories.
December 18, 2015
Fabulous collection of short stories.
September 7, 2019
The title of this second collection of Jackie Kay’s short stories reflects the contents. Most of the stories have shifting perspectives or protagonists who are unsure of their surroundings. All are very well written.
Reality, Reality is a stream of consciousness narration by a woman who is attempting to reach the final of a TV cookery competition, or thinks she is.
Another stream of consciousness, These are not my Clothes is told from the point of view of an inmate in a care home - who is not receiving very good care. The title is a phrase she keeps repeating to the nurses who dress her. Her only confidante is the part-time cleaner Vadnie.
From its first sentence I could sense from the way it is written that The First Lady of Song is a piece of Science Fiction; which is what, indeed, it is. It is narrated by a female singer, who centuries ago, was drugged by her father with a potion that meant she would not die. Her performing names always start with the letter ‘E’ - Elina, Eugenia, Ekateriana, Elisabeth, Ella, Emilia. The only change over time is that her skin darkens. Kay doesn’t bring much that is conceptually new to the old SF chestnut of the life eternal but she does write it well.
In The Pink House a heavily pregnant woman - also heavily debt-ridden - finds refuge in the house that Elisabeth Gaskell once lived in.
Grace and Rose is the story of the first lesbian wedding in Shetland, told by both its principals. A joyous tale of love and fulfilment.
In Bread Bin the narrator’s grandmother tells her she has never had an orgasm - but always had a clean bread bin. The narrator is similarly starved of sexual ecstasy; till the age of forty-nine.
Doorstep sees Cheryl decide to spend Christmas on her own; to the displeasure of her latest girl-friend Sharon.
Hadassah is a retelling of the Moses story, updated to feature a young refugee, Hadassah, who becomes the King’s eyes and ears. The King is running a people-trafficking and prostitution operation.
Inspired by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, The White Cot features two women in a holiday let picking at the cracks in their relationship. One had wanted a child, the other hadn’t. The white cot in their room becomes the material focus for the first’s longings.
In Mind Away the narrator’s mother is gradually losing her memories and thoughts. Together they seek out the doctor into whose head the thoughts have gone.
Two girls who were on holiday together aged ten and nine the year their parents swapped partners, forever after call themselves Barn and Tawny due to witnessing the activities of an Owl.
In The Last of the Smokers two life-long friends contemplate giving up by comparing smoking to ex-lovers.
A woman seeks to find the Mini Me inside her by dint of dieting. Repeatedly.
Mrs Vadnie Marleen Sevlon (the same Vadnie as in These are not my Clothes) took the title Mrs as she thought I it would engender respect. She also invents a husband and children for herself reflecting that, ‘Only people with money have choice.’
The Winter Visitor appears to our narrator every so often without fanfare, taking over her life, until vanishing again as mysteriously.
Reality, Reality is a stream of consciousness narration by a woman who is attempting to reach the final of a TV cookery competition, or thinks she is.
Another stream of consciousness, These are not my Clothes is told from the point of view of an inmate in a care home - who is not receiving very good care. The title is a phrase she keeps repeating to the nurses who dress her. Her only confidante is the part-time cleaner Vadnie.
From its first sentence I could sense from the way it is written that The First Lady of Song is a piece of Science Fiction; which is what, indeed, it is. It is narrated by a female singer, who centuries ago, was drugged by her father with a potion that meant she would not die. Her performing names always start with the letter ‘E’ - Elina, Eugenia, Ekateriana, Elisabeth, Ella, Emilia. The only change over time is that her skin darkens. Kay doesn’t bring much that is conceptually new to the old SF chestnut of the life eternal but she does write it well.
In The Pink House a heavily pregnant woman - also heavily debt-ridden - finds refuge in the house that Elisabeth Gaskell once lived in.
Grace and Rose is the story of the first lesbian wedding in Shetland, told by both its principals. A joyous tale of love and fulfilment.
In Bread Bin the narrator’s grandmother tells her she has never had an orgasm - but always had a clean bread bin. The narrator is similarly starved of sexual ecstasy; till the age of forty-nine.
Doorstep sees Cheryl decide to spend Christmas on her own; to the displeasure of her latest girl-friend Sharon.
Hadassah is a retelling of the Moses story, updated to feature a young refugee, Hadassah, who becomes the King’s eyes and ears. The King is running a people-trafficking and prostitution operation.
Inspired by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, The White Cot features two women in a holiday let picking at the cracks in their relationship. One had wanted a child, the other hadn’t. The white cot in their room becomes the material focus for the first’s longings.
In Mind Away the narrator’s mother is gradually losing her memories and thoughts. Together they seek out the doctor into whose head the thoughts have gone.
Two girls who were on holiday together aged ten and nine the year their parents swapped partners, forever after call themselves Barn and Tawny due to witnessing the activities of an Owl.
In The Last of the Smokers two life-long friends contemplate giving up by comparing smoking to ex-lovers.
A woman seeks to find the Mini Me inside her by dint of dieting. Repeatedly.
Mrs Vadnie Marleen Sevlon (the same Vadnie as in These are not my Clothes) took the title Mrs as she thought I it would engender respect. She also invents a husband and children for herself reflecting that, ‘Only people with money have choice.’
The Winter Visitor appears to our narrator every so often without fanfare, taking over her life, until vanishing again as mysteriously.
May 18, 2025
Probably my favourite Jackie Kay short story collection! I could say good things about each story, but the standouts for me here were the first lady of song (love a bit of music history and immortal angst with my romance) , Grace and Rose (just adorable and my wedding goals tbh), and Hadassah, which if I'm right is a kind of modern retelling of the story of Esther (haha) and I liked it a lot. I can always rely on Jackie Kay for good sapphic and Scottish content and it makes me happy, but I also think she's great at surprising you with a few fantasy/sci fi elements built into the right stories, sometimes leaving you in suspense or making an effective ending even when you can almost see it coming. In this one I especially enjoyed getting two stories that turned out to be the same one from a different character's perspective. She continues to deliver!
October 27, 2022
But the strange thing about life was that you could only live the one of them; you couldn’t live the other one, the one where you went to New York instead of London, and then compare and contrast. You couldn’t compare the life you had with the life you might have had though sometimes Vadnie Marlene Sevlon would have liked to be able to shout Stop and after the requisite minutes Start, and then catch the other life, live it for a bit, and if it was not as agreeable as the one in her imagination, well then she’d be able to return to the old life and appreciate it better by simply shouting Stop and Start again.
April 16, 2019
I love Jackie Kay's writing. I admit I was initially disappointed when I realised this was a collection of short stories, as I usually find them a bit 'meh'. However, this collection is truly truly beautiful and I enjoyed every story. Her writing just reels you in. She deals with difficult subjects so gracefully, and I found this book really heartfelt. I also ADORED 'Trumpet' which is her only novel I believe? I hope she writes another novel.
April 9, 2018
I struggled through the first story 'I see myself in the sad green room' and so on, telling myself that she's a respected author, that she's won prizes, that I should make an effort, but the second story begins: ...these are not my clothes, but she puts them on me anyway.' and I thought, 'life's too short' and gave up.
December 12, 2018
A collection of mostly internal monologues, all very low key and subdued, with little in the way of storylines.
Most of the voices are seldom heard in books but I found it difficult to muster much interest.
Most of the voices are seldom heard in books but I found it difficult to muster much interest.
April 20, 2024
An astounding range of stories, all with a unique voice. A few are desperately sad, some have laugh out loud moments, all contain a gentle humour and a couple are the most profound stories I have ever read.
September 21, 2025
This collection reminded me how imaginative writing can (should?) be. That, in reality, anything can be true. I also enjoyed the exploration of ageing and middle aged lesbian love and adult friendship and loss of memory. I liked it even though a couple of the stories were misses for me.
February 19, 2021
It has soul
October 19, 2024
Great read
July 22, 2025
powerful short stories focusing on women's lives
December 28, 2013
‘Reality, Reality’
A single woman trying to better herself, themes of weight loss, cooking, alcoholism, loneliness, bettering oneself. A nice image of a character - slightly unhinged but enjoying her fantasy.
‘These are not my clothes’
A lovely story set in an old people's home from the viewpoint of an elderly lady and the care she gets from those around. Sad and living with the small things in life to get you by. Very eloquent.
‘The First Lady of Song’
A lady that doesn't age and remembers her lives through music. When you live and lose so often do you lose the ability to love or learn to cut yourself off?
‘The Pink House’
A nice story included the stresses of modern life but the optimism to show what is important and what isn't.
‘Grace and Rose’
A story of two women getting married told from both of their perspectives in turn. Full of love and realising that these two women thought they were the happiest they could be until they got married and they were happier than they ever knew they could be.
‘Bread Bin’
Really liked this story about sex and love and how we find these things in our life. A great relationship with her grandmother.
‘Doorstep’
A nice Christmas story about love and friendship, how we re-evaluate our lives and often what we say is not what we mean - even if we don't realise it at first.
‘Hadassah’
A lovely story about optimism but more accurately naivety. I had a problem with the lack of speech marks (although it hasn't bothered me in other books e.g. Handmaid's Tale) because it wasn't clear when her speech ended and her thoughts began. I got used to the broken English.
‘The White Cot’
This was a great story and the theme is something I also fear regretting, but it turns into a spooky tale when those regrets manifest.
‘Mind Away’
Quite confusing to try and follow but I suppose that was the point.
‘Owl’
Really liked this story about two old friends and how their lives overlapped. The beginning shows the subtle but harsh bullying that happens between three girls perfectly.
‘The Last of the Smokers’
Two best friends and the problems with feeding each other's habits and trying to give up the bad ones.
‘Mini Me’
Probably my favourite story but perhaps this is because I heard Jackie Kay read it out loud and she added so much humour to the main character, Pat. A story of the trials of dieting, friendships and relationships told with humour and repeating themes coming round and back to raise their heads and tie everything together.
'Mrs Vadnie Marlene Sevlon'
This story is about someone's real life and their fictitious life, at the end it subtly ties in with another story in the collection and I like that because you don't realise it at first.
'The Winter Visitor'
A lovely story, steeped in metaphor and mystery from the beginning to the end. A winter visitor comes, stays and leaves again and the surrounding thoughts and outlooks change with time.
A single woman trying to better herself, themes of weight loss, cooking, alcoholism, loneliness, bettering oneself. A nice image of a character - slightly unhinged but enjoying her fantasy.
‘These are not my clothes’
A lovely story set in an old people's home from the viewpoint of an elderly lady and the care she gets from those around. Sad and living with the small things in life to get you by. Very eloquent.
‘The First Lady of Song’
A lady that doesn't age and remembers her lives through music. When you live and lose so often do you lose the ability to love or learn to cut yourself off?
‘The Pink House’
A nice story included the stresses of modern life but the optimism to show what is important and what isn't.
‘Grace and Rose’
A story of two women getting married told from both of their perspectives in turn. Full of love and realising that these two women thought they were the happiest they could be until they got married and they were happier than they ever knew they could be.
‘Bread Bin’
Really liked this story about sex and love and how we find these things in our life. A great relationship with her grandmother.
‘Doorstep’
A nice Christmas story about love and friendship, how we re-evaluate our lives and often what we say is not what we mean - even if we don't realise it at first.
‘Hadassah’
A lovely story about optimism but more accurately naivety. I had a problem with the lack of speech marks (although it hasn't bothered me in other books e.g. Handmaid's Tale) because it wasn't clear when her speech ended and her thoughts began. I got used to the broken English.
‘The White Cot’
This was a great story and the theme is something I also fear regretting, but it turns into a spooky tale when those regrets manifest.
‘Mind Away’
Quite confusing to try and follow but I suppose that was the point.
‘Owl’
Really liked this story about two old friends and how their lives overlapped. The beginning shows the subtle but harsh bullying that happens between three girls perfectly.
‘The Last of the Smokers’
Two best friends and the problems with feeding each other's habits and trying to give up the bad ones.
‘Mini Me’
Probably my favourite story but perhaps this is because I heard Jackie Kay read it out loud and she added so much humour to the main character, Pat. A story of the trials of dieting, friendships and relationships told with humour and repeating themes coming round and back to raise their heads and tie everything together.
'Mrs Vadnie Marlene Sevlon'
This story is about someone's real life and their fictitious life, at the end it subtly ties in with another story in the collection and I like that because you don't realise it at first.
'The Winter Visitor'
A lovely story, steeped in metaphor and mystery from the beginning to the end. A winter visitor comes, stays and leaves again and the surrounding thoughts and outlooks change with time.
June 17, 2017
ackie Kay does not need me to extol her works so that other people are persuaded to read them. But this book is really special in all kinds of ways. It is a series of short stories about women, some of which are linked to the short stories preceding them in this collection. They are extraordinary. There is something about them that captures the everyday lives of these women whether it is through the power of language, the choice of dialect or the sheer overpowering beauty of the stories.
I really do not need to say anything more. Just make sure that you read this book. It will enrich your life.
I really do not need to say anything more. Just make sure that you read this book. It will enrich your life.
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