Purgatory

by Maureen Turner

Purgatory is a collection of twelve short stories. Some have a moral, some a touch of humour, and some a sting in the tail. All are meant to entertain. One or two will make you wonder how you would react to the dilemmas faced by the characters within. From 'Purgatory' with it's stark warning of not resorting to suicide as a means to escape your crimes, to 'Sizzling' a tale of adultery and it's consequences. This collection is as diverse as it's possible to be.

124 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2013

About the author

Although born in Birmingham in the Midlands I have lived in Gloucestershire for the past thirty years. I applied for redundancy following 25 years as a teaching assistant in a rural Gloucestershire school. I had already started writing my debut novel First Breath before finishing work and completed the writing in 2012. The book was published in August 2012. Since then I have penned a further three novels and a collection of short stories. All have been published as e books and most as traditional books as well. Two of the e books were later re-published as one traditional novel. All my novels are in the fantasy romance genre. My collection of short stories are multiple genre. My writing has been influenced by many authors from H.G. Wells to Laini Taylor. As well as fantasy romance I enjoy reading Historical, sci fi and contemporary books.
My books are: First Breath...
Malchediel-Warrior Angel...
Amy-Nephilim Freedom Fighter...
Do Androids Dream?...
Purgatory...
Wings Unfurled.
I am 45,000 words into my latest book as yet untitled.

Reviews

[H.M. Holten · Rating 5 out of 5]

About Fiends and Friends

Purgatory: A Death Wish Gone Haywire
Such a Pity: Nemesis Comes When You Least Expect it.
Halloween: All Soul’s Eve
Dicker: Dog-Rescue-Dog
Corona: Between Life and Death
The Sprite: Dangerous Nature and or Folklore
The Magpie’s Hoard: A Writer’s Plight, and a Magpie’s
Old Thunder: Big Fish Story
Vera Nuss: A Girl and Her Incongruous Friend
The Storm: Heavenly Phenomenon
The Worst Christmas Ever: The Dangers of Being Fifty, Fat, and Friendly
Sizzling: Philandering Husband

Maureen Truner has created a scintillating collection of short stories that will keep any reader glued to the page. No surprises there, but her plot- and character-shaping is superb – and the surprises are abundant when you dive into the text.

Oh yes, there is plenty of opportunity to wonder what one would do if confronted with such extraordinary situations and characters.

Purgatory is a rare treat.

[Millie Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read Ms Turner’s book of Christmas stories, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ and really enjoying it, I mentally marked this book of shorts as one to read. I’ve also read and loved three of the author’s novels and knew she had a vivid imagination, which certainly reveals itself in this absorbing collection of unique short stories.
The twelve stories are all very different in their settings, themes and characters. The author has explored themes as diverse as the paranormal/supernatural to magical folklore, humour, and the perplexities and problems thrown up in everyday life, with the variety of emotions, reactions and consequences that accompany them. The story of a philandering husband stands alongside a tale about a drunken and bullying one, an alien whose navigation system seemed to have gone awry, an evil sprite, and a lonely old fisherman intent on netting an elusive carp.
The first story, ‘Purgatory’, is a great one to delve into, as well as being both poignant and thought-provoking. I also loved the story of Vera Nuss, and another that particularly appealed (as a similar subject is world news as I write this) is that about a tiny organism named Corona. It’s strange to think that Maureen wrote this story several years ago.
The book is skilfully and cleverly written. One story leads effortlessly to the next and I just had to keep reading to find out what each would be about. It’s a great book for either reading straight through, or reading the individual stories during coffer breaks or whilst travelling on a bus or train. Either way, it’s an entertaining and every enjoyable way to spend some time.

[Roy McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A varied and entertaining collection. Turner has envious imagination and I found myself enjoying each little story and eagerly moving on to the next. The graveyard gothic of the title story, the poignancy of Halloween, a sentient virus. I have a passing interest in the faerie world so I liked Sprite for that. Maybe my favourite was Vera Nuss with its alien who has got lost. The collection ends on a weak note with Sizzling resembling a scene in a bad novel. Four stars but one deducted for some very odd punctuation and capitalisation.

[A.E.M. A.E.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic set of short stories! My favorite was the sprite. I loved how each story drew me in, and how the characters all felt like people I might know. It’s been a long time since I’ve read short stories, and it was absolutely refreshing to have a book of diverse tales to enjoy. Well done, author!

[Bodicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good collection of short stories from Maureen Turner! I loved Such A Pity, Purgatory, Halloween and Sizzling.

Such A Pity - Such a good man, have you heard the story of his wife? She is slightly unhinged apparently but he bears it well. The poor man…

Halloween – The children will be knocking on the door soon and she has everything ready. Have a tissue ready…

Sizzling – He couldn’t believe his luck; she wanted him…

Purgatory – He couldn’t go on, there was only one way for this to end…

I do love a collection of short stories and these ones are great for dipping into. Well done, Maureen Turner!

[Sherrie Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully diverse collection of short stories, some from a perspective that you would never imagine (Corona,) some are thought provoking (Purgatory,) some very moving (Halloween,) all captivating. I enjoyed them so much I read some of them twice. This is just the kind of book to dip into when you have only a few minutes to spare and want a short, entertaining read.

I have read all of Maureen Turner's books since discovering them on Twitter and this collection of short stories is written to her usual high standard. A well deserved 5 stars.

[Janet Gogerty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always have anthologies on my Kindle to read in between novels or in odd moments and this collection did not disappoint. Short stories are free to explore possibilities that novels cannot and the author takes us from every day life to interplanetary fantasy. One story has no happy ending for anybody, in some tales people get their comeuppance, while in others characters are offered a chance for salvation. Have fun dipping into this collection.