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Each of Us a Petal
This collection of short fiction from award-winning author Amanda Huggins takes us on a journey through Japan, from the hustle of city bars to the silence of snow country. She first visited Japan almost twenty years ago, and the people, culture and complex social mores of this beguiling country have inspired her writing ever since.
Whether they are Japanese nationals or foreign tourists, temporary residents or those recalling their time in Japan from a distance, the men and women in these stories are often adrift and searching for connections. Many of Huggins’ characters are estranged from their normal lives, navigating the unfamiliar while trying to make sense of the human condition, or finding themselves restrained by the formalities of traditional culture as they struggle to forge new relationships outside those boundaries. Others are forced to question their perceptions when they find themselves drawn into an unsettling world of shapeshifting deities and the ghosts of the past.
Whether they are Japanese nationals or foreign tourists, temporary residents or those recalling their time in Japan from a distance, the men and women in these stories are often adrift and searching for connections. Many of Huggins’ characters are estranged from their normal lives, navigating the unfamiliar while trying to make sense of the human condition, or finding themselves restrained by the formalities of traditional culture as they struggle to forge new relationships outside those boundaries. Others are forced to question their perceptions when they find themselves drawn into an unsettling world of shapeshifting deities and the ghosts of the past.
Paperback
Published May 31, 2024
About the author
Amanda Huggins
26 books11 followersAmanda Huggins is the award-winning author of the novellas All Our Squandered Beauty and Crossing the Lines, both of which won the Saboteur Award for Best Novella, as well as five collections of short fiction and poetry.
(Kindly note, she did NOT write any of the yoga/wellness books misattributed to her on this profile and has tried unscuccessfully to have them removed . . .)
Her travel writing, fiction and poetry have been widely published in anthologies, English textbooks and travel guides, as well as newspapers and magazines including Harper's Bazaar, the Guardian, The Telegraph, Wanderlust, Reader’s Digest, Writers’ Forum, Tokyo Weekend, Popshot and Mslexia. Her short stories have also been broadcast on BBC radio.
She has won a number of awards for her travel writing, most notably the BGTW New Travel Writer of the Year in 2014, and has been placed in numerous short story and poetry competitions including Harper's Bazaar, Bridport and Fish. In 2018 she was a runner-up in the Costa Short Story Award and her prize-winning story ‘Red’ features in her collection, Scratched Enamel Heart. In 2019 her novella, All Our Squandered Beauty, was shortlisted in the Best Opening Chapter Competition at York Festival of Writing and in 2020 she won the Colm Toibin International Short Story Award, was included in the BIFFY50 list of Best British and Irish Flash Fiction 2019-20, and her poetry chapbook, The Collective Nouns for Birds won the Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet. In 2021 she won the H E Bates Short Story Competition, was a runner-up in the Fish Short Story Prize, and All Our Squandered Beauty won the Saboteur Award for Best Novella.
Amanda Huggins also writes as Mandy Huggins - please see her separate Goodreads profile under that name.
(Kindly note, she did NOT write any of the yoga/wellness books misattributed to her on this profile and has tried unscuccessfully to have them removed . . .)
Her travel writing, fiction and poetry have been widely published in anthologies, English textbooks and travel guides, as well as newspapers and magazines including Harper's Bazaar, the Guardian, The Telegraph, Wanderlust, Reader’s Digest, Writers’ Forum, Tokyo Weekend, Popshot and Mslexia. Her short stories have also been broadcast on BBC radio.
She has won a number of awards for her travel writing, most notably the BGTW New Travel Writer of the Year in 2014, and has been placed in numerous short story and poetry competitions including Harper's Bazaar, Bridport and Fish. In 2018 she was a runner-up in the Costa Short Story Award and her prize-winning story ‘Red’ features in her collection, Scratched Enamel Heart. In 2019 her novella, All Our Squandered Beauty, was shortlisted in the Best Opening Chapter Competition at York Festival of Writing and in 2020 she won the Colm Toibin International Short Story Award, was included in the BIFFY50 list of Best British and Irish Flash Fiction 2019-20, and her poetry chapbook, The Collective Nouns for Birds won the Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet. In 2021 she won the H E Bates Short Story Competition, was a runner-up in the Fish Short Story Prize, and All Our Squandered Beauty won the Saboteur Award for Best Novella.
Amanda Huggins also writes as Mandy Huggins - please see her separate Goodreads profile under that name.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 31, 2024
All of human life is reflected in the perceptive short stories by Amanda Huggins and the focus of her latest anthology, ‘Each of us a Petal,’ is Japan. From city streets and bars to the silence of snow-covered mountains, Huggins’ love and knowledge of the country shine clearly. It is her love song for Japan, its people, its heritage, countryside and traditions.
The Japanese lens brings a new flavour to themes familiar from earlier anthologies, of love and loss, being adrift and on the outside or left behind, and notions of identity. The small details are beautifully described. Ume, who collects champagne and oranges to start her day with a mimosa. Suzume who catches a glimpse of graceful cranes through a train window, ‘their black-tipped wings lit by the sun.’ Huggins has sat in the late night bars watching salarymen down glass after glass of whisky, she has walked the mountain paths where bears may lurk in shadows. As well as winning the Saboteur Award for Best Novella twice, prizes for poetry and the 2018 Costa Short Story Award runner-up award, she is also an award-winning travel writer. In ‘Each of Us a Petal,’ these disciplines and insight are drawn together.
One of my favourite stories, one I found myself thinking about days later, is the shortest. ‘Sparrow Footprints’ is only one page, a brief tale as delicate as a bird’s footprints in the snow but the emotional message between the words is heavy and oh so familiar to anyone who has loved.
‘The Knife Salesman from Kochi’ is a longer tale with a shock at the end. Mr Omote is the knife salesman from Kochi who stays at the inn owned by Yumi, inherited from her mother. Huggins explores a depth of grief that, once the surface signs have faded, lurks deeply hidden from even those closest.
‘Stolen’ is about the illicit freedom that comes with anonymity, questioning how well you know yourself and the one that you are closest to. Anna and Keizo meet friends in the woodlands in moonlight, it is kitsune festival time and families picnic, children play, many wear masks. Keizo’s friends all wear traditional fox masks which cover the whole of the face, Anna and Keizo are given masks too. When couples begin disappearing into the woods, hand in hand, Keizo says they are taking advantage of the privacy offered by the trees.
Huggins is a master of condensing emotion into a few pages, focusing on one element and exploring it with precision and beauty. I finished the book and immediately started leafing through the pages again, searching for favourites to re-read. The title of the anthology is a quote from Huggins’ essay ‘Each of Us a Petal,’ included in this book, and refers to cherry blossom.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
The Japanese lens brings a new flavour to themes familiar from earlier anthologies, of love and loss, being adrift and on the outside or left behind, and notions of identity. The small details are beautifully described. Ume, who collects champagne and oranges to start her day with a mimosa. Suzume who catches a glimpse of graceful cranes through a train window, ‘their black-tipped wings lit by the sun.’ Huggins has sat in the late night bars watching salarymen down glass after glass of whisky, she has walked the mountain paths where bears may lurk in shadows. As well as winning the Saboteur Award for Best Novella twice, prizes for poetry and the 2018 Costa Short Story Award runner-up award, she is also an award-winning travel writer. In ‘Each of Us a Petal,’ these disciplines and insight are drawn together.
One of my favourite stories, one I found myself thinking about days later, is the shortest. ‘Sparrow Footprints’ is only one page, a brief tale as delicate as a bird’s footprints in the snow but the emotional message between the words is heavy and oh so familiar to anyone who has loved.
‘The Knife Salesman from Kochi’ is a longer tale with a shock at the end. Mr Omote is the knife salesman from Kochi who stays at the inn owned by Yumi, inherited from her mother. Huggins explores a depth of grief that, once the surface signs have faded, lurks deeply hidden from even those closest.
‘Stolen’ is about the illicit freedom that comes with anonymity, questioning how well you know yourself and the one that you are closest to. Anna and Keizo meet friends in the woodlands in moonlight, it is kitsune festival time and families picnic, children play, many wear masks. Keizo’s friends all wear traditional fox masks which cover the whole of the face, Anna and Keizo are given masks too. When couples begin disappearing into the woods, hand in hand, Keizo says they are taking advantage of the privacy offered by the trees.
Huggins is a master of condensing emotion into a few pages, focusing on one element and exploring it with precision and beauty. I finished the book and immediately started leafing through the pages again, searching for favourites to re-read. The title of the anthology is a quote from Huggins’ essay ‘Each of Us a Petal,’ included in this book, and refers to cherry blossom.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
May 16, 2024
Each of Us a Petal by Amanda Huggins (Victorina Press) is a collection of short fiction, all inspired by the people, culture and landscape of Japan. Having reached the end I feel bereft, and ready to start reading from the first story all over again. I’m struggling to find the words to express how much I am in love with Huggins’ writing and these stories. She writes prose with the heart of a storyteller and the soul of a poet.
Picking out a single favourite is like having to choose between chocolate and coffee, and I can’t do that, but particular stories have seeped into my dreams and still linger. ‘My Yellow’ made me sob, ‘Whatever this is’ made me sigh and ache for a happy ending, while ‘Stolen’ gave me good shivers as I’m a sucker for a hint of magic realism. Others such as the immersive ‘An Unfamiliar Landscape’ still live on in my imagination, having the characters and complexity to evolve into much longer narratives.
Each story here is as delicate and beautiful as cherry blossom, each one is truly a petal to be cherished. Huggins’ fascination for Japan, its heritage and customs, resonates throughout every page. This haunting collection shimmers with her love.
This is a rare collection that has piqued my interest to read more about this complex country. I’ve never visited Japan, but now it’s on my bucket list.
Picking out a single favourite is like having to choose between chocolate and coffee, and I can’t do that, but particular stories have seeped into my dreams and still linger. ‘My Yellow’ made me sob, ‘Whatever this is’ made me sigh and ache for a happy ending, while ‘Stolen’ gave me good shivers as I’m a sucker for a hint of magic realism. Others such as the immersive ‘An Unfamiliar Landscape’ still live on in my imagination, having the characters and complexity to evolve into much longer narratives.
Each story here is as delicate and beautiful as cherry blossom, each one is truly a petal to be cherished. Huggins’ fascination for Japan, its heritage and customs, resonates throughout every page. This haunting collection shimmers with her love.
This is a rare collection that has piqued my interest to read more about this complex country. I’ve never visited Japan, but now it’s on my bucket list.
June 13, 2024
What impresses me most about this collection is Huggins’ ability to enter a very different culture and focus on the similarities that bring us together. She taps into themes of yearning, loneliness and being on the outside to show these as universal experiences, as well as celebrating love and personal connections. Huggins has a keen eye and focuses on small things in her stories such as a knife or a key or a sparrow’s footprints which all bring a wider meaning to the reader. It is a delightful collection which I highly recommend.
June 11, 2024
Beautifully written stories that capture the essence of the culture while maintaining that emotional resonance. Superb.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews