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Second-hand Rain
I am the laugh of a kookaburra. I am a currawong. I am a galah. I am a lyre because I am a lyrebird. I am a performer and I am superb.
Dark, offbeat and haunting, from the bluest Venetian lagoon where a merwoman saves a drowning gondolier to a glass harmonica playing itself on a British tideline, this innovative and perceptive collection ripples with watery memories and poetic unease.
Home is never the safe place as it snapshots families set apart by betrayal, illness or death: a phantom baby growing older, a granddaughter obsessively peeling tangerines, and a deaf sister conducting music in her sleep. Sadness loses its balance, then floats adrift as a litter picker finds secrets within her wasteland, nostalgia flowers in suburban gardens, and people vanish in the fog.
Dark, offbeat and haunting, from the bluest Venetian lagoon where a merwoman saves a drowning gondolier to a glass harmonica playing itself on a British tideline, this innovative and perceptive collection ripples with watery memories and poetic unease.
Home is never the safe place as it snapshots families set apart by betrayal, illness or death: a phantom baby growing older, a granddaughter obsessively peeling tangerines, and a deaf sister conducting music in her sleep. Sadness loses its balance, then floats adrift as a litter picker finds secrets within her wasteland, nostalgia flowers in suburban gardens, and people vanish in the fog.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
149 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
6 people want to read
About the author
Georgia Carys Williams
5 books7 followersGeorgia Carys Williams was born in Swansea. She won third
prize at the Terry Hetherington Award 2012, highly commended
for The South Wales Short Story Competition 2012, was
shortlisted for the Swansea Life Young Writing Category of the
Dylan Thomas Prize, 2008 and for the Wells Festival of
Literature 2009. Whilst working on a PhD in Creative Writing at
Swansea University, she writes for Wales Arts Review and was
commissioned by the Rhys David Trust to contribute to WAR’s
fictional map of Wales series. Most recently, she was shortlisted
for New Welsh Review’s Flash in the Pen competition, published
in Parthian’s Rarebit Anthology and awarded third prize in the
Terry Hetherington Award 2014. Her debut short story collection,
Second-hand Rain was published by Parthian in October 2014.
prize at the Terry Hetherington Award 2012, highly commended
for The South Wales Short Story Competition 2012, was
shortlisted for the Swansea Life Young Writing Category of the
Dylan Thomas Prize, 2008 and for the Wells Festival of
Literature 2009. Whilst working on a PhD in Creative Writing at
Swansea University, she writes for Wales Arts Review and was
commissioned by the Rhys David Trust to contribute to WAR’s
fictional map of Wales series. Most recently, she was shortlisted
for New Welsh Review’s Flash in the Pen competition, published
in Parthian’s Rarebit Anthology and awarded third prize in the
Terry Hetherington Award 2014. Her debut short story collection,
Second-hand Rain was published by Parthian in October 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 4, 2014
I was gripped by the opening story. Each one was so moving, full of suspense and beautifully written. What an amazing collection - and so different. It really was difficult to put the book down. A very talented writer.
March 11, 2015
A gorgeous and well-crafted collection of short stories that I will definitely re-read in the future. Williams has a great imagination and a flair with words. The stand-out stories for me are Beautifully Greek, Lyrebird Lament, Lady Venetia, My Sister the Conductor and The Girl in the Painting.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews