This collection of short stories brings together, for the first time, a selection of Stella Duffy’s award-winning writing, as well as some of the numerous stories that have been broadcast on radio and appeared in anthologies over the past 20 years. Many of these books are out of print and the radio broadcasts are unavailable; this collection therefore not only highlights the range and variety of her writing, but also breathes new life into some of her best stories.
Stella Duffy was born in London and grew up in New Zealand. She has lived and worked in London since the mid-1980s. She has written seventeen novels, over seventy short stories, and devised and/or written fourteen plays. The Room of Lost Things and State of Happiness were both longlisted for the Orange Prize, and she has twice won Stonewall Writer of the Year. She has twice won the CWA Short Story Dagger. Stella is the co-founder of the Fun Palaces campaign for cultural democracy. Her latest novel is Lullaby Beach (Virago). She is also a yoga teacher, teaching workshops in yoga for writing, and a trainee Existential Psychotherapist, her ongoing doctoral research is in the embodied experience of being postmenopausal.
Fantastic collection of stories - some very unexpected, almost none at all predictable. Some confusing, some straightforward, some downright inspirational.
(A few proofreading issues in this edition but who cares?)
Personal Favourite Stories: 'From the River's Mouth' - unique voice and very creepy. 'Siren Songs' - starts off weird but soon turns completely normal, defies all expectations. 'Face Value' - "it was never about me" 'Come Away With Me' - just excellent.
Really, there are only a couple of stories I don't class as a favourite. This collection was an absolute joy to read - creepy, clever, memorable. Going to have to get myself a copy!
One main theme in this collection of Stella Duffy’s short stories is death. Inevitable death and the idea of both life & death being meaningless. I found some of the stories quite haunting. My personal favourites includes ‘Martha Grace’, ‘Being the Baroness’, ‘Silk Lovers’ and ‘Jail Bait’