Point of View: It's all relative, really

by Phoebe Wilby

This collection of short stories, poetry and essays by newcomer Phoebe Wilby highlights the truth in the statement that “everyone has a story to tell”.Phoebe lays a fresh perspective on the ordinary, and not so ordinary, events of everyday life in her 13 stories, seven poems and three essays.Her writing style emphasises the point that even the mundane can become interesting depending on the points of view of the reader and the story teller. It’s all relative, really.The collection is named for “Point of View”, her winning entry of the 2002 Golden Key International Honour Society Literary Achievement Award for Excellence in Fiction.“Point of View” is a fictionalised account of the effect of the September 11 tragedy in 2001 on the lives of three survivors and clearly demonstrates the theme of this collection.

180 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2015

About the author

Phoebe Wilby currently lives in the Republic of Ireland with her husband She has been writing since childhood, including horror stories, humour, and poetry, usually about life as she saw it then.

While studying for her Bachelor of Journalism at the Queensland University of Technology, Phoebe also worked temporarily as editor of Kids In Brisbane, a newspaper-style magazine aimed at parents of under 12s in Brisbane and the surrounding regions. In 2002, also while still studying, she won the Literary Achievement Award for Excellence in Fiction from the Golden Key International Honour Society, of which she is a lifetime member, for her fictionalised treatment of the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New York.

Her chaotic lifestyle now lends itself to the writing of short stories and poetry and she continues to do this sporadically, interspersed with a full-time job, admin duties for a stable of psychiatrists, arranging music for children’s songs written by a friend, voluntary work for her Church and of course, family commitments.

She claims she doesn’t have the attention span to write a novel. However, she is currently working on a trilogy – and rather than finish them one at a time, is working on all three stories at once!

Reviews

[Sharah McConville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won Phoebe Wilby's book "Point of View: It's All Relative, Really" through Goodreads Giveaways. I loved this collection of short stories, poems and essays. Secrets, Fiery Angels, Remorse? and Resolution were my favourite stories and the essays really got me thinking!

[Stephanie Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Point of View by Phoebe Wilby is a collection of short stories, poetry and essays, each within a theme of someone’s point of view. I realise I don’t have enough short story collections. It was nice to have a complete story to read when I knew time was too short to get stuck into a novel. These stories were entertaining and gave me something to think about over the days after reading them. My favourite had to be the title story, Point of View. Told first from the perspective of the Statue of Liberty, it was as if I were there viewing the planes flying into the towers of the World Trade Centre. Then, switching to one of the emergency response team who was one of the first on the scene, watching through her eyes as people struggled to flee from the ruins. And there’s more. If it were only for this story, told so eloquently and poignantly, it would be worth buying this book. It’s not hard to see why this story won the 2002 Golden Key International Honour Society Literary Achievement Award for Excellence.
The other stories are as diverse and memorable. I’ve given this collection five stars because even though it’s a while since I bought my copy, I keep coming back to read one or another of the stories.

[The Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

This well written collection of short stories, poems and essays by Author Phoebe Wilby have a common thread throughout which focuses on the truth behind the age old saying that ‘everyone has a story to tell.’ Through her creative works Phoebe aims to expand the point further by emphasising that what some people may consider to be the mundane, others can find truly fascinating, and it all really does depend on the reader or participant’s individual points of view.

Although I’m not normally a huge fan of short story collections, as I tend to feel disappointed when I become gripped with a plot line and it ends too soon, I really enjoyed reading this collection and particularly enjoyed the stories Johnny Be Goode, Fiery Angels, No Strings Attached and the Weatherman. However I must say that I found all the stories in this collection to be engaging and entertaining throughout. The characters are sufficiently developed and the dialogue is relevant and believable. The pace moves quickly, but is appropriate given their length and the simple intention of providing readers with food for thought. The essays were interesting and not too dry in their content and delivery. Overall a good read.

I award 4 stars.

[Linda Dunlap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stories, Stories, Stories! Enjoyable reading.

Not usually a fan of short stories I chose to read this book and stretch my library skills . I was pleasantly surprised by the really good writing and the varied subject matter. Some twist endings delighted me as they caught me unaware and appealed to my love for a finely turned sentence .
I recommend this book to readers who like to turn a few pages and lay the book aside for a while. It is worth the return trip to read a bit more the next time.

[Tom Leverett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the book is short stories, and they're very good. The ones that stuck with me were about surviving abuse and 9/11, but I liked them all. Some have totally unexpected twists. The poetry is good too, but it loses something, being tucked away in the back of a short stories book, I thought.