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Jellyfish
A stunning short story collection by one of the UK’s best contemporary fiction writers
Janice Galloway redefined contemporary Scottish fiction with the extraordinary The Trick is to Keep Breathing , first published in 1989, going on to become a towering presence in British literature, winning the McVitie’s Prize, the EM Forster Award, the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award, and the SMIT Non-fiction Book of the Year. She is a novelist, short story writer, memoiriere, librettist, essayist, and poet. Following on from her most recent award-winning creative non-fiction, This is Not About Me and All Made Up, comes her fourth short story collection, the outstanding Jellyfish , confirming her position as one of the most elegant, unflinching, masterful chroniclers of contemporary life and love.
Janice Galloway redefined contemporary Scottish fiction with the extraordinary The Trick is to Keep Breathing , first published in 1989, going on to become a towering presence in British literature, winning the McVitie’s Prize, the EM Forster Award, the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award, and the SMIT Non-fiction Book of the Year. She is a novelist, short story writer, memoiriere, librettist, essayist, and poet. Following on from her most recent award-winning creative non-fiction, This is Not About Me and All Made Up, comes her fourth short story collection, the outstanding Jellyfish , confirming her position as one of the most elegant, unflinching, masterful chroniclers of contemporary life and love.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published June 22, 2015
11 people are currently reading
397 people want to read
About the author
Janice Galloway
52 books140 followersJanice Galloway was born in Ayrshire in 1955 where she worked as a teacher for ten years. Her first novel, The Trick is to keep Breathing, now widely considered to be a contemporary Scottish classic, was published in 1990. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel, Scottish First Book and Aer Lingus Awards, and won the MIND/Allan Lane Book of the Year. The stage adaptation has been performed at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, the Du Maurier Theatre, Toronto and the Royal Court in London. Her second book, Blood, shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize, People's Prize and Satire Award, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Foreign Parts, won the McVitie's Prize in 1994. That same year, and for all three books, she was recipient of the E M Forster Award, presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her story-collection, Where you find it, was published in 1996, followed by a series of collaborative installation texts for sculptor Anne Bevan, published by the Fruitmarket Gallery as Pipelines in 2000. Her only play, Fall, was performed in Edinburgh and Paris in spring, 1998. She was the recipient of a Creative Scotland Award in 2001.
Monster, Janice's opera by Sally Beamish, exploring the life of Mary Shelley, was world premiered by Scottish Opera in February 2002. Her third novel, Clara, based on the tempestuous life of pianist Clara Wieck Schumann, was published by Cape the same year and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize (Eurasia category) and the SAC Book of the Year, going on to win the Saltire Book of the Year. It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 2003. Boy book see, a small book of "pieces and poems", also appeared in 2002. In 2003, Janice recorded Clara as Scottish RNIB's first audio book.
Rosengarten, Janice's 2003 collaboration with Anne Bevan exploring obstetric implements and the history of birthing, is now part of the premanent collection of the Hunterian Museum, and is also available as a book.
In 2006, Janice won the Robert Louis Stevenson Award to write at Hotel Chevillon in Grez sur Loing, and in 2007, was the first Scottish receipient of the Jura Writer’s Retreat.
Janice has also worked as a writer in residence for four Scottish prisons and was Times Literary Supplement Research Fellow to the British Library in 1999. Her radio work for the BBC has included the two-part series Life as a Man, a major 7-part series entitled Imagined Lives, In Wordsworth's Footsteps and Chopin’s Scottish Swansong.
Monster, Janice's opera by Sally Beamish, exploring the life of Mary Shelley, was world premiered by Scottish Opera in February 2002. Her third novel, Clara, based on the tempestuous life of pianist Clara Wieck Schumann, was published by Cape the same year and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize (Eurasia category) and the SAC Book of the Year, going on to win the Saltire Book of the Year. It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 2003. Boy book see, a small book of "pieces and poems", also appeared in 2002. In 2003, Janice recorded Clara as Scottish RNIB's first audio book.
Rosengarten, Janice's 2003 collaboration with Anne Bevan exploring obstetric implements and the history of birthing, is now part of the premanent collection of the Hunterian Museum, and is also available as a book.
In 2006, Janice won the Robert Louis Stevenson Award to write at Hotel Chevillon in Grez sur Loing, and in 2007, was the first Scottish receipient of the Jura Writer’s Retreat.
Janice has also worked as a writer in residence for four Scottish prisons and was Times Literary Supplement Research Fellow to the British Library in 1999. Her radio work for the BBC has included the two-part series Life as a Man, a major 7-part series entitled Imagined Lives, In Wordsworth's Footsteps and Chopin’s Scottish Swansong.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
July 18, 2015
When I first heard about the publication of this collection of short stories, months and months ago, I was excited. Janice Galloway's first fiction in a few years. I wasn't disappointed. It's a bit like being reunited with a friend, the type you don't speak to often, but when you do, you click right back into place.
Something about Janice's writing, full of its unusual observations and imaginative, weirdly apt metaphors, has the tendency to press on the heart a little bit, or open wounds, ones you might have long forgotten were there. It hits a nerve, dredges the memory, peels back some layers of feeling.
As such, reading her feels like a very personal act. It's a reacquaintance not only with her, a relationship that started with the incredibly raw The Trick is To Keep Breathing, but also a little bit with a corner of myself. I prefer not to read it on the bus, but alone, in bed or in the bath behind a locked door.
There are 14 stories in here. Some are a quick sketch of whirlwind desire, like in 'looking at you' which builds people watching, the observation of sexual tension, to a crescendo with the barrier breaking punch to the gut of "and he's looking at you." The title story, Jellyfish, opens with the tension of a child dangling dangerously over the edge of a kerb on a dirty city street and continues it with the feelings of a mother acutely aware her little boy, beginning primary school the next day, is already too old for many jokes and games. We see women coming to terms with being a mother, struggling to process feelings after a breakup, and a young one learning lessons from an older, mysterious woman. There are midnight feasts, burning of books, Mozart, Carmen, singing in the bath, a rural car accident, an impulse to gather at a loch for some natural but frightening phenomenon of the earth, a glimpse at George Orwell's life on the island before he wrote his last book Nineteen Eighty Four, and later, teaching Orwell to a group of modern children who don't much care.
All the weirdness of everyday life, and feelings dredged from the depths, instilled with Janice's peculiar, particular turn of phrase and way of perceiving the world. Much recommended.
Something about Janice's writing, full of its unusual observations and imaginative, weirdly apt metaphors, has the tendency to press on the heart a little bit, or open wounds, ones you might have long forgotten were there. It hits a nerve, dredges the memory, peels back some layers of feeling.
As such, reading her feels like a very personal act. It's a reacquaintance not only with her, a relationship that started with the incredibly raw The Trick is To Keep Breathing, but also a little bit with a corner of myself. I prefer not to read it on the bus, but alone, in bed or in the bath behind a locked door.
There are 14 stories in here. Some are a quick sketch of whirlwind desire, like in 'looking at you' which builds people watching, the observation of sexual tension, to a crescendo with the barrier breaking punch to the gut of "and he's looking at you." The title story, Jellyfish, opens with the tension of a child dangling dangerously over the edge of a kerb on a dirty city street and continues it with the feelings of a mother acutely aware her little boy, beginning primary school the next day, is already too old for many jokes and games. We see women coming to terms with being a mother, struggling to process feelings after a breakup, and a young one learning lessons from an older, mysterious woman. There are midnight feasts, burning of books, Mozart, Carmen, singing in the bath, a rural car accident, an impulse to gather at a loch for some natural but frightening phenomenon of the earth, a glimpse at George Orwell's life on the island before he wrote his last book Nineteen Eighty Four, and later, teaching Orwell to a group of modern children who don't much care.
All the weirdness of everyday life, and feelings dredged from the depths, instilled with Janice's peculiar, particular turn of phrase and way of perceiving the world. Much recommended.
October 16, 2021
The word toxic skipped through Martha's head like a black lamb.
This collection of short stories by Janice Galloway makes for an uneven reading experience. The titular short story is absolutely fantastic, and I recommend it without reservation. Many of the subsequent stories have compelling plot twists and turns of phrase, while others were difficult to follow and didn’t capture my interest. Jellyfish is largely a book of character portraits and will appeal to those who enjoy character-driven short stories.
This collection of short stories by Janice Galloway makes for an uneven reading experience. The titular short story is absolutely fantastic, and I recommend it without reservation. Many of the subsequent stories have compelling plot twists and turns of phrase, while others were difficult to follow and didn’t capture my interest. Jellyfish is largely a book of character portraits and will appeal to those who enjoy character-driven short stories.
June 3, 2019
I "discovered" this author on a visit to The Golden Hare Bookshop in Edinburgh in March. She is not widely known in the US. Her stories are unusual, with unexpected twists. In the middle of a prosaic story something quite unexpected can happen. She tells stories of women's lives in a way that was new and refreshing. I highly recommend this collection to anyone interested in women's writing.
August 27, 2024
Several of these stories portray, through shocking glimpses, relationships that have become filled with harrowing hatred. Another is an existential meditation in a psych ward for post-abortion women, with the focal character having administered hers DIY. Also a few set pieces, intense short-shorts, not quite flash fiction. Throughout, Galloway's writing is full of concrete imagery, surprising figures of speech, and blended emotional tableaus.
August 13, 2019
I don't normally read short stories but this compilation has made me want to delve into them again.
Personal favourites were 'Greek', 'Gold' and 'Peak'.
'Turned' was creepy. Janice Galloway is an excellent writer.
Personal favourites were 'Greek', 'Gold' and 'Peak'.
'Turned' was creepy. Janice Galloway is an excellent writer.
January 17, 2024
some really impactful short stories in this collection, a lovely read spanning a wide variety of topics
September 7, 2019
Een verwarrende verhalenbundel, deze 'Jellyfish'. De eerste helft van de verhalen vond ik nogal vergeetachtig, ik leek ook de clou vaak niet te snappen. De tweede helft vond ik heel wat beter, met de twee laatste verhalen als uitschieters (alhoewel die voorlaatste over een wel zeer vreemde date ging). Ik neigde naar drie sterren maar het fenomenale laatste verhaal maakt er 3,5 van en afgerond zijn dat dan 4 sterren.
Edit 7/9: reconsidered to 3 stars, rounding off to 4 is a bit too much.
Edit 7/9: reconsidered to 3 stars, rounding off to 4 is a bit too much.
December 2, 2015
Janice Galloway is the kind of author who grabs you by the throat and makes you read her short stories. Like the Ancient Mariner she has no intention of letting you go until you have read them all, and you leave wiser than you were.
Janice Galloway is a fierce proponent of the value of the short story, and in Freight Books she has found a publisher willing to take the risk. The problem is that publishers, bookshops and libraries do not know how to promote short stories. How do you market them? Where do you put them on the shelves? Do you place them with the novels, even though they are not novels? Or do you give them a separate section called short stories? I have always thought that the clue is in the shelf heading "Fiction" but that means that people can only find short story collections if they know who they are looking for, which tends to be the dead (Guy De Maupassant, Roald Dahl, Anton Chekhov etc) not the living (Janice Galloway and Ewan Morrison, to name but two).
You should seek out Janice Galloway. She is a very special writer. These stories of hers are very much set now and in the west of Scotland. This very precision gives the tales a fundamental humanity, a universality of experience that leaves you reeling with a shock of recognition. They are stories to delight in, if delight is the right word. From the moment that Monica and Calum walk along the beach and find the jellyfish, you will be entranced. You will want to read each story. You will want to think about the connections between them, not of characters and storylines, but of thoughts and ideas. Janice Galloway is that kind of author. She makes you see the connections and think about them.
It is difficult to say which, of this collection, is my favourite short story. That is because they are all special, they all have their own qualities, and they are all so easy to read. Janice Galloway writes with an ease and eloquence that takes you effortlessly through each story, and makes you want to read the next one to see if it is just as good. And it is no surprise to discover that it is.
Janice Galloway is one of the best modern writers. Give yourselves a treat, and read this collection of short stories. Read Jellyfish. You will not regret it.
Janice Galloway is a fierce proponent of the value of the short story, and in Freight Books she has found a publisher willing to take the risk. The problem is that publishers, bookshops and libraries do not know how to promote short stories. How do you market them? Where do you put them on the shelves? Do you place them with the novels, even though they are not novels? Or do you give them a separate section called short stories? I have always thought that the clue is in the shelf heading "Fiction" but that means that people can only find short story collections if they know who they are looking for, which tends to be the dead (Guy De Maupassant, Roald Dahl, Anton Chekhov etc) not the living (Janice Galloway and Ewan Morrison, to name but two).
You should seek out Janice Galloway. She is a very special writer. These stories of hers are very much set now and in the west of Scotland. This very precision gives the tales a fundamental humanity, a universality of experience that leaves you reeling with a shock of recognition. They are stories to delight in, if delight is the right word. From the moment that Monica and Calum walk along the beach and find the jellyfish, you will be entranced. You will want to read each story. You will want to think about the connections between them, not of characters and storylines, but of thoughts and ideas. Janice Galloway is that kind of author. She makes you see the connections and think about them.
It is difficult to say which, of this collection, is my favourite short story. That is because they are all special, they all have their own qualities, and they are all so easy to read. Janice Galloway writes with an ease and eloquence that takes you effortlessly through each story, and makes you want to read the next one to see if it is just as good. And it is no surprise to discover that it is.
Janice Galloway is one of the best modern writers. Give yourselves a treat, and read this collection of short stories. Read Jellyfish. You will not regret it.
September 13, 2015
What a fantastic short story collection.
There is a quote on the cover from one of the reviews the book received that says that writing has never been so visceral. And indeed it hasn't.
There is a quote on the cover from one of the reviews the book received that says that writing has never been so visceral. And indeed it hasn't.
April 5, 2016
Great book with some compelling stories that will stay with me. Will be reading more by Janice Galloway!
March 17, 2016
This was only going to be three but damn, the last couple were just so so good.
February 15, 2021
𝗝𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘆𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 by 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒚
Finally finished this collection of short stories which I purchased from Vivek ji. As is the case with such books, some stories were great and some not as much. I found the absence of quotation marks in speech a little annoying. Some stories I couldn't understand at all. But the others were very well written.
Each story is a slice of life...a cross sectional view of a person' day. Nothing truly begins or ends in any of the stories... (𝑵𝒂 𝒊𝒃𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒂 𝒌𝒊 𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊, 𝒏𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒎. Lol! )
The language is very descriptive. I am not a big fan of descriptions but I did appreciate the atmosphere created by the author, particularly so in 'Distance'. However, my favourite stories from the book are those that focussed on desire. I LOVED "Looking at you" and "Romantic".
Overall, a decent read. It gets 2.8 which we can round off to 🌟🌟🌟
Swipe to see my rating of the individual stories..but, before that..dosa 🙈
(Feb 2021)
Insta: @the_bookish_islander
Finally finished this collection of short stories which I purchased from Vivek ji. As is the case with such books, some stories were great and some not as much. I found the absence of quotation marks in speech a little annoying. Some stories I couldn't understand at all. But the others were very well written.
Each story is a slice of life...a cross sectional view of a person' day. Nothing truly begins or ends in any of the stories... (𝑵𝒂 𝒊𝒃𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒂 𝒌𝒊 𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊, 𝒏𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒎. Lol! )
The language is very descriptive. I am not a big fan of descriptions but I did appreciate the atmosphere created by the author, particularly so in 'Distance'. However, my favourite stories from the book are those that focussed on desire. I LOVED "Looking at you" and "Romantic".
Overall, a decent read. It gets 2.8 which we can round off to 🌟🌟🌟
Swipe to see my rating of the individual stories..but, before that..dosa 🙈
(Feb 2021)
Insta: @the_bookish_islander
December 13, 2023
some stories I really loved, some I didn't care much for (almost 1948). jellyfish and distance blew me away. the scenes in this book are so vivid, especially in those two stories. and drugs and rock and roll was another story I enjoyed. Janice Galloway writes so well about parenthood, anxieties, experiences of physical and mental health struggles in these stories.
I think I like the longer stories more than the shorter ones, so I'm keen to read one of her novels. I bought her Collected Stories and Foreign Parts recently, so I'll start with Foreign Parts, although I wanted to get The Trick Is To Keep Breathing.
I got this book out from the library and immediately spilled coke on it, which days later attracted a cockroach that I unwittingly squashed into it. oops. sorry library. I tried to clean it but may have made things worse.
I think I like the longer stories more than the shorter ones, so I'm keen to read one of her novels. I bought her Collected Stories and Foreign Parts recently, so I'll start with Foreign Parts, although I wanted to get The Trick Is To Keep Breathing.
I got this book out from the library and immediately spilled coke on it, which days later attracted a cockroach that I unwittingly squashed into it. oops. sorry library. I tried to clean it but may have made things worse.
June 22, 2020
4.5 stars. I just love Janice Galloway. I don't really like short stories as a genre, but I love her writing, so this was enjoyable. As with any collection, the stories felt a bit uneven, and also, reading on audiobook, it was a bit confusing when one story ended and another began because some of the stories ended kind of in medias res.
I just love the thoughtful, slow quality of the stories though - portraits of everyday life, they move carefully through landscapes of feeling. My favourite story was one of the first ones - the one about the woman on a psych ward. It was an interesting complement to The Trick is to Keep Breathing, but a bit of a different angle on the topic with a focus on reproductive choice.
I just love the thoughtful, slow quality of the stories though - portraits of everyday life, they move carefully through landscapes of feeling. My favourite story was one of the first ones - the one about the woman on a psych ward. It was an interesting complement to The Trick is to Keep Breathing, but a bit of a different angle on the topic with a focus on reproductive choice.
February 7, 2022
Listened to the audiobook while on a walk with my doggies which was a pretty wholesome experience. Unfortunately the collection doesn’t really get any better than the first story - the excellent titular “Jellyfish” - and to be honest I found some of the tales dull and pointless. Standouts were the opening story, the story about Alma in the psych ward, and the final story. These three great tales don’t make up for a remainder of mediocre ones, which sucks since I think Janice Galloway is one of the great Scottish novelists and her talent astounds me. You can really see this writing talent in these three standouts, which makes the lacklustre offerings all the more disappointing.
6/10
6/10
March 18, 2020
Not much for me in here, I’m afraid. A collection of short stories about women, they’re tiny microcosms that didn’t really seem to go anywhere. I also didn’t find them particularly discursive on any particular subject and that lessened my connection to them enormously. This just wasn’t a standout collection for me. The one I like the most was ‘After 1948’ which looked at George Orwell’s struggle with tuberculosis in a brief snapshot of his life, but even that felt too short to be particularly meaningful.
January 16, 2022
I listened to the audiobook read by the author. Her accent is very thick. I actually thought she was Irish; I guess the short story about loch ness should have clued me in. Most of the stories are slices of modern life. Her language is rich and thick, but very little happens and nothing is at stake. It's sort of like MFA writing, but instead of having a contrived dramatic event at the end, Galloway's stories just sort of fade away. Her use of language is intriguing, and if nothing else, the book is short.
dnf
January 11, 2024I am not able to finish this book because, despite being halfway through, the book is not my cup of tea. Despite not being a short story enthusiast, I picked this book after hearing a booktuber loving it. I pushed through half the stories in it, and I did not like even one.. some confused me to no end, others plan felt average to me. Considering I have a good chunk of books to read in my tbr, this unfortunately goes to the DNF pile.
March 29, 2019
“This useless gamut of art and sound and words and stuff that had meant her, that had once meant so much to me, and that I had out here to make sure it never meant any such thing again. No more running in circles: this finale would be inexorable. It would solder every broken fibre in my macerated heart till it reached the very core and cracked it clean in two. I did not need to wait.” (111)
March 31, 2019
The title story and the last story, Distance, really connected with me and showed how Galloway could create fully fledged characters from small tiny instances, and her beautiful yet left-field metaphors really hit me. Otherwise I couldn't really connect with the other stories in this collection, they just felt too brief or cerebral for me to feel any emotional impact.
June 9, 2022
Picked this short book up in the library as I had heard great things about the author and wanted to give her a go. Short stories aren’t really my thing but I did enjoy a few of the ones featured in here. Some of the stories really stood out and I wanted to find out more about the characters. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and would definitely read more from her.
December 15, 2024
Omg I’ve finally finished it. I don’t think this book deserves 2 stars at all, it should be higher but in regards to my enjoyment it’s accurate.
I’m sad because I really liked the idea of this book but it ended up taking me a MONTH to get through a 200 page book.
Not gonna lie I don’t think I really took much in but I can appreciate the art of it.
🪼
I’m sad because I really liked the idea of this book but it ended up taking me a MONTH to get through a 200 page book.
Not gonna lie I don’t think I really took much in but I can appreciate the art of it.
🪼
December 10, 2016
One of my favourite writers so I was always going to enjoy this collection of short stories. The only distraction was the many typos/poor editing in my hardback edition. Please sort it out #freightbooks
January 4, 2017
After a shaky start, with a lot of factual errors in the first story (which only a Millport expert would spot), I absolutely loved this collection. Really powerful, poetic writing. Most of the stories were wonderful, while some were simply outstanding.
January 10, 2018
The title story "Jellyfish" is entirely wonderful--as good an evocation as I've ever read of what it's like to parent a small child. (It gives a great sense of what it's probably like to be a four-year old too.)
May 15, 2019
Brilliant stories told with a precise account of places, landscapes, people and their habits. Janice galloway narrated beautifully on this audio version. Well worth tuning in to. Will certainly listen over again.
December 26, 2017
exquisite writing.
the last story is painful to read, though.
the last story is painful to read, though.
February 28, 2019
A welcome re-issue of this collection, which explores connections between generations, between families, and how society treats women on the edge.
March 19, 2020
Loved every word!
Some stories seemed hard to follow, but still worth the read as you try to explore each character's life through the eyes of many.
Some stories seemed hard to follow, but still worth the read as you try to explore each character's life through the eyes of many.
May 31, 2021
Happy, creepy, daft, sad, joyous. A medley of short stories by Janice Galloway.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews