Tenderness

by Dr Sarah Quigley

A superb collection of stories from a prize-winning writer - some short, some long, set in locations that span the globe, all exploring the theme encapsulated by the title: tenderness.Meet Sadie, the high-flying divorce lawyer who ends up putting marriages back together; the Ice Cream Girl, discovered in a superette and transplanted to Hollywood; the seven-year-old Prometheus, who faces death on a daily basis. With a mix of humour and compassion, each story carries the punch of a compacted novel, highlighting those illuminating moments of human connection.Sarah Quigley has an impressive track-record as a fiction writer, and these stories will not disappoint. Stylistically assured, emotionally resonant, they are guaranteed to capture minds and hearts. Quigley has won numerous awards for her short fiction, including the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award and the Commonwealth Pacific Rim Short Story Award. Her best-selling novel, The Conductor, has sold throughout the world. It was long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and shortlisted for the prestigious Prix Femina.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first few stories but find it hard to really get into short stories compared to a full length book.

[Kait · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story was good, but I lost interest increasingly from there, I have to admit I only read half the book. Which I never do, but it was long and there are more out there.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually like short story collections but I do like Quigley's writing. I began reading this anthology yesterday and couldn't put it down - difficult to fully explain why as many of the stories are quite vaguely poetically written with suggestions rather than statements yet somehow they stay in your mind. I'm not sure I fully understood "The English Speakers" but it definitely resonated. There are not very many truly likeable men in the collection but some of them are expertly, witchily presented in a manner which resembles Mansfield. Ralph in "The Addition" and Dante and Bruce in "Transportation" come to mind. "The Marriage Mender" has the most likeable characters including a "carrot and ginger soup" young man. "Waiting for Wolves" is heartbreakingly optimistic and "The Crane" a poignant account of caring.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title for this collection of short stories is a little incongruous. Some of the stories are tender, many are not. The writing is evocative, the characters are well drawn. Sometimes the stories left me feeling content, sometimes unsettled. My favorite story was "The Marriage Mender" about a divorce lawyer who ends up helping people fix their marriages. I will definitely try a novel by this author at some point.