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A Faraway Smell of Lemon
It is Christmas Eve. Binny has four hours to make Christmas happen and she couldn’t feel less like wishing glad tidings of good will to all men – least of all to Oliver. It is raining, her house is falling apart, the streets are jammed with people and it is all Oliver’s fault. Darting into a shop to escape a conversation, Binny finds herself in the sort of place she would never normally visit. But in amongst the shelves is a surprising source of peace.
A beautiful gem of a short story from Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Perfect The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.
A beautiful gem of a short story from Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Perfect The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
311 people are currently reading
3207 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Joyce
32 books3,421 followersRachel Joyce has written over 20 original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for both the Classic Series, Woman's Hour and also a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play. She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre and television, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, winning a Time Out Best Actress award and the Sony Silver.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 233 reviews
June 19, 2015
I don't often read short stories just because they are short and I like my books long! However I do really like this author so gave this one a try. And I am very glad I did. Rachel Joyce manages to pack so much into so few pages. Her writing is so neat and controlled, no time is wasted on explanations and our understanding of the situation unfolds as the story progresses. It is a sweet but sad little story with a comforting ending. Very enjoyable.
December 4, 2017
It’s Christmas Eve, and Binny is not prepared. In fact, she wants to fast forward and skip Christmas this year all together.
”Binny did not purchase a Christmas tree or get out the box of decorations from the loft or fill the kitchen with mince pies and jars of pickle. It was all so futile. So lacking in meaning.”
Binny’s heart has been broken. Oliver, her dreamy “out of work” actor boyfriend has fallen for another and moved out. Binny is the type of person who doesn’t show her true feelings, and doesn’t allow herself to cry. She gets on with things. But it’s all bottled up inside her, waiting to erupt.
While doing the morning school run, Binny escapes from the clutches of another Mum (wearing a complete Xmas “ensemble” of a festive jogging suit, with matching red fur ears and gloves) who wants to know if Binny is “ready for Christmas” or maybe even the nativity play that is on that afternoon at the school. Binny doesn’t hear her properly, as she's too busy dashing to the local shops, to avoid a conversation.
”Outside, people are travelling to be with ones they love while Binny stands along, in the middle of a shop that stocks nothing but cleaning products.”
The store which Binny finds herself in, is one she would not normally visit. It contains cleaning products. Only cleaning products. Shelves of cleaning products. Lots and lots of cleaning products. Binny and domesticity aren’t the best of friends. This is not her type of store.
”Surfaces are felted with dust and piled high with old magazines and newspapers and tax returns and letters Binny has never bothered to answer. The carpet is thick with dust balls the size of candy floss….”
On meeting the shop assistant, Binny discovers that for some people, cleaning can help them de-stress and refocus.
”Domestic chores can be therapeutic.” “So can red wine”, says Binny.”
Over a polishing bonding session (which is where “the scent of lemon” comes into play), Binny discovers that Christmas isn’t all joy and happiness for others either, and that the shop assistant has also had her own heartbreak to deal with. Also over Christmas time. Something far worse than what Binny is going through.
”It was Christmas. Everyone was happy. I felt like an alien. I felt like I didn’t belong.”
To her surprise, Binny let’s go, and cries. And it feels good.
”There’s nothing like a good cry”, says the young woman. “This is not something I do. I can take anything. I am a rock. I never cry.”
“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t cry every now and then.”
This novella is a nice light read over a cuppa ☕
”Binny did not purchase a Christmas tree or get out the box of decorations from the loft or fill the kitchen with mince pies and jars of pickle. It was all so futile. So lacking in meaning.”
Binny’s heart has been broken. Oliver, her dreamy “out of work” actor boyfriend has fallen for another and moved out. Binny is the type of person who doesn’t show her true feelings, and doesn’t allow herself to cry. She gets on with things. But it’s all bottled up inside her, waiting to erupt.
While doing the morning school run, Binny escapes from the clutches of another Mum (wearing a complete Xmas “ensemble” of a festive jogging suit, with matching red fur ears and gloves) who wants to know if Binny is “ready for Christmas” or maybe even the nativity play that is on that afternoon at the school. Binny doesn’t hear her properly, as she's too busy dashing to the local shops, to avoid a conversation.
”Outside, people are travelling to be with ones they love while Binny stands along, in the middle of a shop that stocks nothing but cleaning products.”
The store which Binny finds herself in, is one she would not normally visit. It contains cleaning products. Only cleaning products. Shelves of cleaning products. Lots and lots of cleaning products. Binny and domesticity aren’t the best of friends. This is not her type of store.
”Surfaces are felted with dust and piled high with old magazines and newspapers and tax returns and letters Binny has never bothered to answer. The carpet is thick with dust balls the size of candy floss….”
On meeting the shop assistant, Binny discovers that for some people, cleaning can help them de-stress and refocus.
”Domestic chores can be therapeutic.” “So can red wine”, says Binny.”
Over a polishing bonding session (which is where “the scent of lemon” comes into play), Binny discovers that Christmas isn’t all joy and happiness for others either, and that the shop assistant has also had her own heartbreak to deal with. Also over Christmas time. Something far worse than what Binny is going through.
”It was Christmas. Everyone was happy. I felt like an alien. I felt like I didn’t belong.”
To her surprise, Binny let’s go, and cries. And it feels good.
”There’s nothing like a good cry”, says the young woman. “This is not something I do. I can take anything. I am a rock. I never cry.”
“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t cry every now and then.”
This novella is a nice light read over a cuppa ☕
December 22, 2016
3.5 Stars
July 7, 2025
A Christmas story of a broken heart that makes celebrating for Binny a chore.
She finds comfort in an unexpected place.
She finds comfort in an unexpected place.
December 27, 2020
I just finished reading PERFECT, a book which won't be available until January. Smitten with British author Rachel Joyce, I immediately downloaded her short e-story A FARAWAY SMELL OF LEMON to my Kindle.
It's a Christmas story that let's those who are not living the shiny holiday of expectations mourn and move on. I worried it might spoil my experience with PERFECT before I had a chance to review it but the writing was just as lovely and the story touching.
Immediately I added an earlier novel THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY to my to-read list.
Sometimes I like a book but don't necessarily read everything by the author. In Rachel Joyce's case, I will seek out anything she creates.
It's a Christmas story that let's those who are not living the shiny holiday of expectations mourn and move on. I worried it might spoil my experience with PERFECT before I had a chance to review it but the writing was just as lovely and the story touching.
Immediately I added an earlier novel THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY to my to-read list.
Sometimes I like a book but don't necessarily read everything by the author. In Rachel Joyce's case, I will seek out anything she creates.
December 16, 2024
A re-reading. . . A perfect tale for the year's end, especially if it's been a rough year. . .
This is help for that moment when it all falls down. That you are not alone in the hurt, and when you lose hold of the rope, the free-falling tears and plummet fade as you finally catch a breath. . . .there are a few things - methodical, repetitive, with rhythm and purpose that calm a soul, grow seeds for future rise from that bereft moment; where one finds the bones of resilience to put aside for tomorrow.
I never read this that I don't immediately long for lemons in any form, and go find them.
24/52:2
This is help for that moment when it all falls down. That you are not alone in the hurt, and when you lose hold of the rope, the free-falling tears and plummet fade as you finally catch a breath. . . .there are a few things - methodical, repetitive, with rhythm and purpose that calm a soul, grow seeds for future rise from that bereft moment; where one finds the bones of resilience to put aside for tomorrow.
I never read this that I don't immediately long for lemons in any form, and go find them.
24/52:2
December 5, 2014
Sometimes you just need to stop, and smell the lemons...as well as the roses.
A thought provoking short story about love, loss and gratitude.
4★s
October 31, 2017
Its almost Christmas but Binny is far from being in a celebratory mood. Her life, like her house, is a mess. Personal matters have not gone according to plan. Quite the opposite actually, and now she is feeling rather lost. Binny walks into small shop and engages in a conversation with the clerk. It will be a conversation that will help her shift her perspective.
This brief story packs a lot of heart and a lovely sentiment. I came upon this work by chance. 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' is among my favorite books so I decided to give this work a go. A quick read, it is touching and beautiful. Binny is a single mom to two kids, her house is packed and messy. She is not compelled to clean it. She does not have a tree nor gifts for her kids. Binny feels everything is ruined. She walks into a shop and the clerk offers her help. Her words will have a lasting effect on Binny. Simple but to the point, this book was a lovely read. Will be seeking other titles by Rachel Royce in the near future.
This brief story packs a lot of heart and a lovely sentiment. I came upon this work by chance. 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' is among my favorite books so I decided to give this work a go. A quick read, it is touching and beautiful. Binny is a single mom to two kids, her house is packed and messy. She is not compelled to clean it. She does not have a tree nor gifts for her kids. Binny feels everything is ruined. She walks into a shop and the clerk offers her help. Her words will have a lasting effect on Binny. Simple but to the point, this book was a lovely read. Will be seeking other titles by Rachel Royce in the near future.
November 7, 2022
I enjoy reading Rachel Joyce’s work. She writes with such grace and beauty. This little book has so much to offer. The characters: Binny, Oliver and small lady in the shop are all appreciated, by the reader. It is important to accept the hiccups in life otherwise you can never move forward - Joyce portrays this so well. 4/5
November 3, 2014
“We had once what we can never have again. So why, then, do we behave as if everything we have connected with, everything we have blessed with our loving, should be ours for keeps? It is enough to have tiptoed to that space beyond the skin, beyond our nerve endings, and to have glimpsed things that beforehand we only half knew”
A Faraway Smell of Lemons is a Christmas Short Story by actress, radio playwright and author, Rachel Joyce. It may be Christmas, but Binny’s life has fallen apart: the faulty shower, the broken glass pane in the front door, the smashed crockery on the kitchen floor, the unbought Christmas cards, food and gifts; it’s all Oliver’s fault. What sort of Christmas Binny’s children, Coco and Luke are going to get this year is anyone’s guess. Binny has just a few hours to fix it, and a staggering lack of enthusiasm for the task. Trying to avoid another school mother in the High Street, she slips into a shop that sells nothing Binny has ever wanted, but she somehow finds exactly what she needs. A sweet story that may well bring a tear to the eye. 4.5 ★s
A Faraway Smell of Lemons is a Christmas Short Story by actress, radio playwright and author, Rachel Joyce. It may be Christmas, but Binny’s life has fallen apart: the faulty shower, the broken glass pane in the front door, the smashed crockery on the kitchen floor, the unbought Christmas cards, food and gifts; it’s all Oliver’s fault. What sort of Christmas Binny’s children, Coco and Luke are going to get this year is anyone’s guess. Binny has just a few hours to fix it, and a staggering lack of enthusiasm for the task. Trying to avoid another school mother in the High Street, she slips into a shop that sells nothing Binny has ever wanted, but she somehow finds exactly what she needs. A sweet story that may well bring a tear to the eye. 4.5 ★s
December 7, 2014
Marketed as a Christmas story, I found Christmas to be incidental and that this tale could have been set at any time of year. What I liked about that was that it meant this story didn't fall into the sentimentality that plagues seasonal reads. It was an interesting idea - a woman stops and recoups following a crisis, finding herself again in every day tasks. I think the idea could have been further developed, even within the short story format, to make this a more satisfying read. Still, it wasn't bad and bonus points because it didnt make me roll my eyes as many Christmas related stories seem to.
October 28, 2022
I’d forgotten how much I love a good short story!
July 10, 2018
We had once what we can never have again. So why, then, do we behave as if everything we have connected with, everything we have blessed with our loving, should be ours for keeps? It is enough to have tiptoed to that space beyond the skin, beyond our nerve endings, and to have glimpsed things that beforehand we only half knew.
A quirky short story about Christmas and grief. Very enjoyable, but I actually was thinking that it was a full lenght book when I picked it.
This author is new to me and I wanted to read this before undertaking her best-seller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which mostly caught my attention because of the elegant cover.
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2018: 45. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
I'll see how I am doing with my multiple challenges in winter, and I may add a full lenght book for this one. I've been wanting to finish The Grapes of Wrath for more than 3 decades but it was a book that I put on hold in my late teens and never came back to. Nice excuse to do it this year for the challenge.
A quirky short story about Christmas and grief. Very enjoyable, but I actually was thinking that it was a full lenght book when I picked it.
This author is new to me and I wanted to read this before undertaking her best-seller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which mostly caught my attention because of the elegant cover.
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2018: 45. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
I'll see how I am doing with my multiple challenges in winter, and I may add a full lenght book for this one. I've been wanting to finish The Grapes of Wrath for more than 3 decades but it was a book that I put on hold in my late teens and never came back to. Nice excuse to do it this year for the challenge.
January 2, 2015
Full review at Smoke & Mirrors blog (http://books-n-music.blogspot.com/201...).
I mainly downloaded this from Kobo (Yes, there are options other than Amazon for books and ebooks!) and read it because our book club selected her book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry to read and discuss for our January 2015 meeting. I thought this would be an easy way to try out her writing style to better prepare me for reading this book, and it was!
I really liked her style, very straightforward, yet revealing the "full story" gradually through her interactions with and thoughts about others. Binny was a sympathetic character to whom I could relate, especially her aversion to cleaning house! ;) Though I gather this aversion was one symptom of her depression, resulting from repression of emotion, which becomes clear as the story unfolds. She has lost her parents not so long ago, but refused to cry or show her emotions at that time, then when her current "partner," Oliver ups and leaves her, confessing his affair with another woman who is now pregnant, she is beside herself yet still willing herself to remain stoic.
Rather than dealing with her emotions by expressing them verbally, instead she chooses to throw plates, covering her kitchen floor with the "thousand blue ceramic pins" that were formed, then she "swept the splinters of china into her hands and squeezed until she felt them spike the skin." (This process reminded me a bit of "cutting" that some people do to "relieve" themselves of emotional overload/misery.)
It was amazing to see how Binny reacted to the cleaning shop worker...and finally obtained some relief. Proof that you never know when you might have significant impact upon someone else's life in the seemingly most insignificant interactions.
I highly recommend this story.
I mainly downloaded this from Kobo (Yes, there are options other than Amazon for books and ebooks!) and read it because our book club selected her book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry to read and discuss for our January 2015 meeting. I thought this would be an easy way to try out her writing style to better prepare me for reading this book, and it was!
I really liked her style, very straightforward, yet revealing the "full story" gradually through her interactions with and thoughts about others. Binny was a sympathetic character to whom I could relate, especially her aversion to cleaning house! ;) Though I gather this aversion was one symptom of her depression, resulting from repression of emotion, which becomes clear as the story unfolds. She has lost her parents not so long ago, but refused to cry or show her emotions at that time, then when her current "partner," Oliver ups and leaves her, confessing his affair with another woman who is now pregnant, she is beside herself yet still willing herself to remain stoic.
Rather than dealing with her emotions by expressing them verbally, instead she chooses to throw plates, covering her kitchen floor with the "thousand blue ceramic pins" that were formed, then she "swept the splinters of china into her hands and squeezed until she felt them spike the skin." (This process reminded me a bit of "cutting" that some people do to "relieve" themselves of emotional overload/misery.)
It was amazing to see how Binny reacted to the cleaning shop worker...and finally obtained some relief. Proof that you never know when you might have significant impact upon someone else's life in the seemingly most insignificant interactions.
I highly recommend this story.
December 30, 2020
3.5 Stars
Rachel Joyce reminds me a great deal of Elizabeth Berg. Both can surprise you with the vulnerability of words. Words that speak a truth which your own voice could never likely find. I imagine these authors would get along famously.
I don’t typically read short stories, because if they’re good, I’m ultimately disappointed because I want more. Well, I want more!! Well done, again, Rachel Joyce.
Rachel Joyce reminds me a great deal of Elizabeth Berg. Both can surprise you with the vulnerability of words. Words that speak a truth which your own voice could never likely find. I imagine these authors would get along famously.
I don’t typically read short stories, because if they’re good, I’m ultimately disappointed because I want more. Well, I want more!! Well done, again, Rachel Joyce.
February 8, 2015
While waiting for the 'prequel' to Rachel Joyce's "the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Frye", I purchased her short story," a faraway smell of lemon". What a delight! I'm not much into short stories but the author has managed to infuse this short read with depth and emotion that far longer novels often fail to achieve. Oliver has left Binnie and her 2 children for his pregnant new love. He seems rather oblivious to the pain he's caused but then, that seems to encapsulate Oliver's personality. Binnie is an awkward, too tall, older and somewhat socially ill at ease woman. It's the Christmas season and this magnifies the loss. She begins to work through the grief in an most unlikely way which I will not expand on other than to say that help and solutions can come in the most unusual ways. We only need to be open to them.
December 25, 2014
An enchanting short story from the talented pen of Rachel Joyce.
Sometimes circumstances mean you withdraw from life and take others for granted, barely register the passing of loved ones and the moving on of friends. In her busy life, while feeling sorry for herself Bin must prepare for Christmas without any joy or desire to celebrate. A brief encounter in a shop she dived in to avoid a nosey school mum she learns to re-engage her senses.
Wonderfully written this account moves you emotionally and allows you to reflect on Christmas and truely prepare for this special time of year. No sermons, without sentimentality Joyce's words wash over you and through these fictional events a deeper truth is revealed.
Sometimes circumstances mean you withdraw from life and take others for granted, barely register the passing of loved ones and the moving on of friends. In her busy life, while feeling sorry for herself Bin must prepare for Christmas without any joy or desire to celebrate. A brief encounter in a shop she dived in to avoid a nosey school mum she learns to re-engage her senses.
Wonderfully written this account moves you emotionally and allows you to reflect on Christmas and truely prepare for this special time of year. No sermons, without sentimentality Joyce's words wash over you and through these fictional events a deeper truth is revealed.
September 27, 2017
I love Rachel Joyce’s writing and wanted something short and light to read between novels. Binny is overwhelmed by life at Christmas. She hasn’t even got presents for the children. She enters a shop and faces her future. It’s a very short read which I enjoyed a lot – except I felt the ending was a little abrupt. It just sort of stopped. They say you should always leave the table feeling you could eat the same again, but I’d have liked to see Binny’s life even just a little way beyond the shop door.
November 29, 2014
Rachel Joyce packs so much into a few pages. Make this your first Christmas read. It's not the happiest story you will read this season, but there are lessons to be learned, even if those lessons involve cleaning products.
January 24, 2015
This was a pretty good read, though a bit to short and sweet. It doesn't take long to read and can be read on the way to work.
March 19, 2022
I didn’t realize this was a short story until I finished it. I would have enjoyed more chapters but it was sweet and concise. Start with small things to make the whole better.
February 24, 2014
For such a short story, 'The Faraway Smell of Lemons' has a profound message and realism. Bad things happen, life wouldn't be what it is without the bad things as well as the good. Going through these bad times is never easy, but simple escapism - doing something as ordinary as polishing - can have such an emotional effect on us. Also, you're not alone with our troubles - everyone has secret problems or worries they don't talk about and we often get so consumed with our own lives we forget that. Enjoyable quick lunch read that leaves an impression.
December 27, 2018
Binny ist nicht bereit für Weihnachten. Am liebsten würde sie es sogar überspringen. Zufällig findet sie sich in einem Laden voller Putzmittel wieder und die Verkäuferin hatte auch mit Schicksalsschlägen zu kämpfen...
Binny, verschlossen und nie Gefühle zeigend, ist nachvollziehbar aber nicht unbedingt sympathisch. Auch die anderen Figuren waren nicht meins, nur die Verkäuferin mochte ich.
Das Ganze ist gut geschrieben und für die Kürze der Geschichte überraschend tiefgründig.
Die Stimmung ist seltsam traurig und am Ende ein bisschen hoffnungsvoll.
Und trotzdem konnte es mich nicht so richtig überzeugen...
Binny, verschlossen und nie Gefühle zeigend, ist nachvollziehbar aber nicht unbedingt sympathisch. Auch die anderen Figuren waren nicht meins, nur die Verkäuferin mochte ich.
Das Ganze ist gut geschrieben und für die Kürze der Geschichte überraschend tiefgründig.
Die Stimmung ist seltsam traurig und am Ende ein bisschen hoffnungsvoll.
Und trotzdem konnte es mich nicht so richtig überzeugen...
December 8, 2018
A tinsy sad but at last hopeful short story, to remember of all the human beings in our life whom we care about and not to forget the importance of small things and gestures.
A few pages that held all this story could need, from flashed out characters to flashbacks and backgrounds and a generous sprinkle of sentiment.
Rachel Joyce, I think we will get along quite well!
A few pages that held all this story could need, from flashed out characters to flashbacks and backgrounds and a generous sprinkle of sentiment.
Rachel Joyce, I think we will get along quite well!
January 7, 2019
I set a reminder for myself to read this around Christmas after finishing The Music Shop previously in the summer. A pleasant short story although I don't remember much about the resolution two weeks after the fact. I prefer to enjoy Ms. Joyce's characters by imagining that I am reading a British comedy.
December 29, 2024
Coastline Library | Fine but forgettable | Joyce has made Binny too unlikeable for this to ever get a reread, there's being scattered/disorganized/lost and then there's being a closed-off/hoarder/neglectful parent, and Joyce pushed Binny to the wrong side of that line. How exactly did she get child custody from her exhusband, honestly?
January 1, 2018
The perfect way to end this year - you would have to read this to fully understand. And if you are a happy, well-rounded, never sad, glass half-full kind of person, this book is not for you.
January 9, 2022
We all go through hard times. Each has their own sorrow.
December 26, 2022
Charming and thought- provoking.
January 24, 2023
A short story that opens your mind a smidge
Displaying 1 - 30 of 233 reviews