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Some New Ambush
Some New Ambush is the first collection of short stories from award-winning writer Carys Davies. Love, loss, birth, death, betrayal, madness – they all lie in wait for Davies’s characters in their startlingly different a dry cleaner’s shop in contemporary Chicago, a mining town in South Wales in the sixties, a lunatic asylum in nineteenth century northern England.
Shot through with wit and aching emotional poignancy, these stories tell of how we attempt to confront the things life throws in our path – often when we least expect them, and in places where we never thought to look. They tell of the mistakes we make along the way, and of how we try to deal with the whole difficult, unpredictable business.
There is the boy who steps into his best friend’s clothes in a desperate bid to fulfil his dreams, the man who comes up with an amazing new invention to win the heart of the woman he loves, the bored young wife doomed to live on an island where everything is red, the middle-aged woman who finds a baby in the sand and passes it off as her own.
Shot through with wit and aching emotional poignancy, these stories tell of how we attempt to confront the things life throws in our path – often when we least expect them, and in places where we never thought to look. They tell of the mistakes we make along the way, and of how we try to deal with the whole difficult, unpredictable business.
There is the boy who steps into his best friend’s clothes in a desperate bid to fulfil his dreams, the man who comes up with an amazing new invention to win the heart of the woman he loves, the bored young wife doomed to live on an island where everything is red, the middle-aged woman who finds a baby in the sand and passes it off as her own.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
108 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
7 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
About the author
Carys Davies
19 books790 followersCarys Davies's debut novel, West, was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, runner-up for the McKitterick Prize, and winner of the Wales Book of the Year for Fiction. Her second novel, The Mission House, was first published in the UK in 2020 where it was The Sunday Times Novel of the Year.
She is also the author of two collections of short stories, Some New Ambush and The Redemption of Galen Pike, which won the 2015 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She is the recipient of the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Prize, the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Short Story Award, a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, and is a member of the Folio Academy. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages.
Born in Wales, she grew up there and in the Midlands, lived and worked for twelve years in New York and Chicago, and now lives in Edinburgh.
She is also the author of two collections of short stories, Some New Ambush and The Redemption of Galen Pike, which won the 2015 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She is the recipient of the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Prize, the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Short Story Award, a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, and is a member of the Folio Academy. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages.
Born in Wales, she grew up there and in the Midlands, lived and worked for twelve years in New York and Chicago, and now lives in Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 18, 2024
Geçen yılın son günlerinde okuyup çok beğendiğim Kuytu'nun yazarı Carys Davies'in yayımlanan ilk öykü kitabı. Görebildiğim kadarıyla dilimize çevrilmemiş. Yazarların eserlerini kronolojik okumayı seviyorum. Kendilerini nasıl geliştirdiklerini görmek enteresan oluyor. Yazarın yeteneği ışıldıyor burada da. Kuytu kitabındaki öykülere benzer metinler fakat anlatım dili daha şiirsel. Yazar vurucu sona sahip kısa hikayelerinin işaretini vermiş. Zaten birkaçı ödüllü hikayeler ve çoğu oldukça etkileyici. Bireyin varoluşsal sorunları ile toplumsal sorunlar başarılı bir şekilde harmanlanmış. Davies'in dilimizde bir de Batı isimli kitabı var. Özellikle Clear romanını merak ediyorum, bulur bulmaz okuyacağım. Umarım yazarın tüm eserleri kazandırılır dilimize, çok yetenekli kendisi.
August 28, 2019
4+
More than half of the stories were perfect examples of why the genre of short stories exist: in this case, not as 'shrunken to their essence novels' , but as small, perfectly finished tales that wouldn't work in bigger stories. Lot's of surprises, twists, hard knocking endings.
If it weren't for a minority of stories that grabbed me less, it would've received a cum laude score.
More than half of the stories were perfect examples of why the genre of short stories exist: in this case, not as 'shrunken to their essence novels' , but as small, perfectly finished tales that wouldn't work in bigger stories. Lot's of surprises, twists, hard knocking endings.
If it weren't for a minority of stories that grabbed me less, it would've received a cum laude score.
September 28, 2020
A beautiful set of short stories, from Cary Davies back-list. This author is becoming a firm favourite of mine.
July 31, 2021
Short story collections are always going to be an uneven road for me - some spots are beautiful and I can stop and enjoy the people and scenery, and others are uncomfortable, boggy quagmires I need to leap over and escape from. This collection is at the upper end of that variation. Some stories are more fairy tales, some are ripped from the headlines, but some feel original and surprising and re-readable. Missing babies, found babies, missing cars, preadolescent bullying, missing hands. My favourite was "Historia Calimitatum Mearum": a Latin teacher whose class is being cancelled gets revenge by sending nasty (and quite funny) notes, in Latin of course, to the incoming teacher who of course becomes apoplectic because he can't understand them. I'm still on the lookout for more of this author's work.
September 1, 2024
If you’re already familiar with Carys Davies, you know. The title for this first published collection of her stories is taken from the last story, but it’s a brilliant encapsulation of the sudden, surprising shift that lies in wait in each. A real original.
April 16, 2023
The first and last stories were the standouts for me. About half of the rest were over my dull head. But I’m really hoping for a new novel from this author. I’ve enjoyed everything else she’s written.
January 4, 2009
Beautifully written modern fairy tales, witty and moving and capturing brilliantly those moments when a life can irrevocably shift.
June 10, 2025
I love Carys Davies' writing style and the scale of her imagination.
A collection of short stories is inevitably difficult to "rate" because there were some I loved and some I didn't. I found my reaction varied from masterly examples to disappointment, completely opposite ends of the scale. I loved the ones I loved and really didn't like the others at all.
Always think it is reading Carys Davies and I understand this was her first work published. I have enjoyed her second collection of stories and the novels much more yet the seeds of the later work are evident here.
When I reviewed her later collection I wrote "There is such skill in transforming, twisting and weaving of the stories". The same is true here but, in my view, this is the junior version!
A collection of short stories is inevitably difficult to "rate" because there were some I loved and some I didn't. I found my reaction varied from masterly examples to disappointment, completely opposite ends of the scale. I loved the ones I loved and really didn't like the others at all.
Always think it is reading Carys Davies and I understand this was her first work published. I have enjoyed her second collection of stories and the novels much more yet the seeds of the later work are evident here.
When I reviewed her later collection I wrote "There is such skill in transforming, twisting and weaving of the stories". The same is true here but, in my view, this is the junior version!
June 26, 2024
3.5 stars
A pretty decent anthology, although I think most of the short stories in this collection could have benefitted from being slightly longer. The final story, ‘Ugly Sister’, was definitely the best one, however I also liked ‘Hwang’, ‘Gingerbread Boy’, ‘The Captain’s Daughter’, ‘Pied Piper’ and ‘The Visitors’.
A pretty decent anthology, although I think most of the short stories in this collection could have benefitted from being slightly longer. The final story, ‘Ugly Sister’, was definitely the best one, however I also liked ‘Hwang’, ‘Gingerbread Boy’, ‘The Captain’s Daughter’, ‘Pied Piper’ and ‘The Visitors’.
March 9, 2021
A collection of short stories reflecting on life and what it throws at us. A mixed bag of themes all written with a humourus and uncomfortable tilt.
'Boot' tells of the young wife and mother's relationship with her dog (and shines a spotlight on her relationship with her husband Ian as he takes over with the disciplining of their wayward dog, Boot) -
'I'd misled him, apparently.
I'd confused him.
Everything I'd done, they explained, had combined to encourage him in his delusions. Apparently I should never have fed him straight from my plate; I should never have given him my bacon rind, my left over roast potatoes, the fatty end of my lamb chops. I should never have thrown him peanuts from my handbag as we strolled down the hill to the beach.
Apparently it made him feel important.'
A trip to the beach showed Ian's new regime was working. Ian goes for a swim-
'A short distance away from me Boot was lying by himself on the sand.
The tartan rug was too good for Boot.
I knew that I'd been told....
I watched him lying there, meek and quiet ...he just lay on his side like a vegetable, gazing blankly out accross the water.
What can I say?
Only that it killed me to see him like that. Only that I knew I liked him better the way he was before...
Ian was a while in the water.
I remember watching him come walking out through the shallow waves, the surf fizzing around his knees, then his ankles. I remember how he started jogging when he reached the dry sand, shouting when he was still quite a long way off....but by then Boot was already on the rug, halfway through his (Ian's) cornetto and I wasn't really listening.'
That's my girl I say!
'Bonnet' tells the story of Charlotte Bronte's journey to London to visit her publisher and friend, George Smith. She has left home before his letters arrive telling her of his forthcoming engagement so is unaware that her romantic hopes are going to be dashed. She arrives to her appointment in her grey travelling clothes, her bonnet relined only an hour earlier in a striking pearly pink to give her confidence and show George how she feels -
'and it is the worst imaginable thing, when he looks up, for him to see it; for him to see this small plain woman, his friend, with this unexpected bonnet on her head.
For a moment he is speechless - all he can do is stand there looking at her and wishing
that he could tell her something, the future perhaps - that before she dies in 18 months time, at the age of thirty eight, she will marry and be so happy, eventually in this brief, late marriage with her quiet clergy man husband, that she will not care if she never writes another word; but he knows nothing of her future- nothing that could come now to her rescue or to his..... and he says nothing about the bonnet and neither does she but it is the worst imaginable thing for her to sit and feel the bright new silk around her face, like a shout, and see how embarassed he is, how he can't look at it.'
The pain of embarrassment.
'Boot' tells of the young wife and mother's relationship with her dog (and shines a spotlight on her relationship with her husband Ian as he takes over with the disciplining of their wayward dog, Boot) -
'I'd misled him, apparently.
I'd confused him.
Everything I'd done, they explained, had combined to encourage him in his delusions. Apparently I should never have fed him straight from my plate; I should never have given him my bacon rind, my left over roast potatoes, the fatty end of my lamb chops. I should never have thrown him peanuts from my handbag as we strolled down the hill to the beach.
Apparently it made him feel important.'
A trip to the beach showed Ian's new regime was working. Ian goes for a swim-
'A short distance away from me Boot was lying by himself on the sand.
The tartan rug was too good for Boot.
I knew that I'd been told....
I watched him lying there, meek and quiet ...he just lay on his side like a vegetable, gazing blankly out accross the water.
What can I say?
Only that it killed me to see him like that. Only that I knew I liked him better the way he was before...
Ian was a while in the water.
I remember watching him come walking out through the shallow waves, the surf fizzing around his knees, then his ankles. I remember how he started jogging when he reached the dry sand, shouting when he was still quite a long way off....but by then Boot was already on the rug, halfway through his (Ian's) cornetto and I wasn't really listening.'
That's my girl I say!
'Bonnet' tells the story of Charlotte Bronte's journey to London to visit her publisher and friend, George Smith. She has left home before his letters arrive telling her of his forthcoming engagement so is unaware that her romantic hopes are going to be dashed. She arrives to her appointment in her grey travelling clothes, her bonnet relined only an hour earlier in a striking pearly pink to give her confidence and show George how she feels -
'and it is the worst imaginable thing, when he looks up, for him to see it; for him to see this small plain woman, his friend, with this unexpected bonnet on her head.
For a moment he is speechless - all he can do is stand there looking at her and wishing
that he could tell her something, the future perhaps - that before she dies in 18 months time, at the age of thirty eight, she will marry and be so happy, eventually in this brief, late marriage with her quiet clergy man husband, that she will not care if she never writes another word; but he knows nothing of her future- nothing that could come now to her rescue or to his..... and he says nothing about the bonnet and neither does she but it is the worst imaginable thing for her to sit and feel the bright new silk around her face, like a shout, and see how embarassed he is, how he can't look at it.'
The pain of embarrassment.
April 18, 2020
a beautiful collection of short stories. Bought because I loved Davies book West so much and Some New Ambush did not disappoint. Lots of dark humor at the right moment.
My favourite stories were: boot, Rose Red (the descriptive language is stunning), Homecoming, 1909, Hwang, in Skokie and Ugly Sister - although that one is potentially the darkest of all short stories.
Davies is a fantastic author and I cannot wait to read the next book of short stories by her.
My favourite stories were: boot, Rose Red (the descriptive language is stunning), Homecoming, 1909, Hwang, in Skokie and Ugly Sister - although that one is potentially the darkest of all short stories.
Davies is a fantastic author and I cannot wait to read the next book of short stories by her.
July 24, 2021
Without a doubt, Carys Davies is one of my favorite short story writers ever! Her writing is inventive, witty, poignant, and completely engaging. She has a way of writing startling endings which is consistent and pleasing. Her characters are intriguing from the start of every story as well. I strongly recommend reading this collection!
January 6, 2022
Carys Davies is a gifted storyteller. Her stories are masterfully crafted. Whenever I read her short stories, I am always amazed how much character development she is able to craft in just a few short pages.
March 27, 2022
Early work and not as strong as her later Redemption of Galen Pike collection. Still, plenty to enjoy here. None of the stories are dull; with the super compact "Homecoming, 1909", a particular favourite of mine.
February 21, 2023
4,5*
Já tinha ficado agradada com o primeiro livro que li de Carys Davies, “West”, uma britânica a dar uma refrescadela ao estafado género do western, mas não estava preparada para que fosse tão boa contista como se revelou aqui, incluindo até alguns toques de realismo mágico que, a meu ver, poucos conseguem usar de forma natural.
As melhores histórias:
“Gingerbread Boy”, que me partiu o coração.
We should have called the police immediately of course, but when you open the back door and you can’t see your four-year-old where he was five minutes ago, playing on the flagstones with his blue metal car, you don’t think, ‘He’s gone. Someone has taken him and he’s gone.’
“The Captain’s Daughter”, sobre uma filha que não quer acreditar que o pai sofre de demência.
We’ve talked it over several times with Dr. Ray, Peter doing most of the talking. Peter���s tack is always the same: aren’t all these things my father is doing – the shuffling walk, the fear, the confusion, the memory loss, the egg, his hand for God’s sake – aren’t they all things he could have read up about, aren’t they all the sort of things he knows he’s supposed to be doing?
“Pied Piper”, sobre uma mulher que encontra um bebé na praia.
She’d always believed (in spite of everything her mother had told her) that life should be fair, and it hadn’t been fair to her. She was sad and disappointed, and we all said it was disappointment that had made her fat. At twenty, she’d been a slip of a girl, but then she’d married Will, who loved her but couldn’t seem to give her a baby, and slowly she began blowing up.
“Historia Calamitatum Mearum”, a mais divertida, sobre uma professora de latim já sem alunos.
I have done everything I can think of to entice the girls back. I have held lunchtime sessions on Roman sex, after school Roman cookery clubs. I have told them about Elagabalus, the Emperor who had a secret life as a transvestite hooker.
“The Visitors”, sobre a visita de Charles Dickens e Wilkie Collins a um manicómio.
Once I heard Dr. Smail, our visiting surgeon, express the belief that our miserable weather is partly to blame, that women are particularly susceptible to the melancholy effects of the rain.
E “Ugly Sister”, sobre duas irmãs divorciadas que seduzem homens à vez.
As children, as girls, they’d always shared possessions by taking it in turns with the better things. The red tricycle, the roller skates. Later, a particular pair of silvery Van Dal heels. Boys they’d never had to share in those days, there were always plenty around in the town and the two of them had been popular enough.
Já tinha ficado agradada com o primeiro livro que li de Carys Davies, “West”, uma britânica a dar uma refrescadela ao estafado género do western, mas não estava preparada para que fosse tão boa contista como se revelou aqui, incluindo até alguns toques de realismo mágico que, a meu ver, poucos conseguem usar de forma natural.
As melhores histórias:
“Gingerbread Boy”, que me partiu o coração.
We should have called the police immediately of course, but when you open the back door and you can’t see your four-year-old where he was five minutes ago, playing on the flagstones with his blue metal car, you don’t think, ‘He’s gone. Someone has taken him and he’s gone.’
“The Captain’s Daughter”, sobre uma filha que não quer acreditar que o pai sofre de demência.
We’ve talked it over several times with Dr. Ray, Peter doing most of the talking. Peter���s tack is always the same: aren’t all these things my father is doing – the shuffling walk, the fear, the confusion, the memory loss, the egg, his hand for God’s sake – aren’t they all things he could have read up about, aren’t they all the sort of things he knows he’s supposed to be doing?
“Pied Piper”, sobre uma mulher que encontra um bebé na praia.
She’d always believed (in spite of everything her mother had told her) that life should be fair, and it hadn’t been fair to her. She was sad and disappointed, and we all said it was disappointment that had made her fat. At twenty, she’d been a slip of a girl, but then she’d married Will, who loved her but couldn’t seem to give her a baby, and slowly she began blowing up.
“Historia Calamitatum Mearum”, a mais divertida, sobre uma professora de latim já sem alunos.
I have done everything I can think of to entice the girls back. I have held lunchtime sessions on Roman sex, after school Roman cookery clubs. I have told them about Elagabalus, the Emperor who had a secret life as a transvestite hooker.
“The Visitors”, sobre a visita de Charles Dickens e Wilkie Collins a um manicómio.
Once I heard Dr. Smail, our visiting surgeon, express the belief that our miserable weather is partly to blame, that women are particularly susceptible to the melancholy effects of the rain.
E “Ugly Sister”, sobre duas irmãs divorciadas que seduzem homens à vez.
As children, as girls, they’d always shared possessions by taking it in turns with the better things. The red tricycle, the roller skates. Later, a particular pair of silvery Van Dal heels. Boys they’d never had to share in those days, there were always plenty around in the town and the two of them had been popular enough.
April 23, 2025
No major stunners here, but on the other hand, a handful of pleasing pieces, as Davies has a simple lulling style to her prose that easily flows from page to page. Favorites include...
* opening story "Hwang" about a drycleaner's unyielding policies and a woman who chooses to swallow her rage over an infidelity
* "Monday Diary": a thalidomide's romantic yearnings and clever ruse
* "Gingerbread Boy": the parents of an abducted child cope with their loss courtesy of a police sketch and suffer an unusual cost
* "Captain's Daughter": a woman his torn between her lover and aging father, who is possibly (but not assuredly) suffering from dementia
* opening story "Hwang" about a drycleaner's unyielding policies and a woman who chooses to swallow her rage over an infidelity
* "Monday Diary": a thalidomide's romantic yearnings and clever ruse
* "Gingerbread Boy": the parents of an abducted child cope with their loss courtesy of a police sketch and suffer an unusual cost
* "Captain's Daughter": a woman his torn between her lover and aging father, who is possibly (but not assuredly) suffering from dementia
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2024
3.5 stars. An interesting collection of short stories. The first one, about a Korean dry cleaner, was brilliant, and worth 5 stars. The rest weren’t quite as good and a couple of the endings were a bit odd. One was almost slightly uncomfortable. However, they are very well written and, despite each one being less than 10 pages, they still manage to absorb you.
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September 3, 2023I don’t generally enjoy short stories but these were extra short and quite clever. I kept thinking of Dorothy Parker’s phrase “What fresh hell is this?” as each story revolves around a particularly odd circumstance. Enjoyable.
#ShortySeptember
#ShortySeptember
January 4, 2024
Great selection of short stories . I really like this author and must read more. My favourite is the first story Hwang , it had a great twist. Also enjoyed Monday Diary.As stated in the back some of these stories have been selected for prizes and I can understand why.
April 2, 2024
I loved the first story in this short collection, but the others, while beautifully written just didn't work for me. I was left too often with the thought, 'what?' at the end of each of them. I love Davies' novels though.
August 25, 2025
A collection of peaks and valleys. Davies is clearly a talented prosaist, though this skill is not always put to its best use. Of note here are the short stories that end in a comedic punchline, which are surprisingly effective, and never failed to induce an audible laugh.
April 29, 2024
Another book of fabulous short stories by Carys Davies. Not my preferred genre but each story here is a complete tale. So enjoyable. Really recommend.
August 1, 2024
My favourite story in this collection was Historia Calamitatum Mearum, The Captain’s Daughter, Monday Diary, Metamorphosis and The Visitors also stood out to me.
September 12, 2024
Always a good read no matter what she writes.
March 31, 2025
Shockingly surprising
A cracking little read, with a twist and turn just to keep you shocked enough at the end of each wee story.
A cracking little read, with a twist and turn just to keep you shocked enough at the end of each wee story.
November 13, 2025
Beautifully structured short stories that feel stripped back but contain multitudes.
August 30, 2015
Better than my rating; just wasn't in the mood for what turned out to be mostly contemporary fables and allegories. Good writing if you are into those. A lot of these stories were prize winners, but those were actually my least favorites in the collection. My favorite was "The Captain's Daughter." A story about a daughter living with a dementia afflicted father whose symptoms worsen when her boyfriend moves in with them. The story revolves around the symptoms: are they real or being faked to drive off the boyfriend. The story has a neat Titus Andronicus tie-in.
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November 22, 2025A little conclusion for me
‘Hwang’: I didn’t see coming,nice twist!,her attitude made me a bit mad
‘Rose red’ I didn’t get same with ‘homecoming 1909’,’in skokie’ and ’the visitors’
‘The captain’s daughter’ she should dump him,he made me mad
‘Pied piper’ was really fascinating
‘Boot’ i am glad about the ending 🦮
‘Scouting for boys’ BRO!
‘Historia calamitatum mearum’ HA!
‘Metamorphosis’ uhhhhhmm sirrr wut 🦅why? ✈️
‘Ugly sister’ yeahhh i saw that coming..the end tho..good one
Bud ‘Gingerbread boy’ was the best for me because it got me thinking..and I had a real OooooHhhhh by the end and it made sence how he feels,so jup jup I pick it as my fave
‘Hwang’: I didn’t see coming,nice twist!,her attitude made me a bit mad
‘Rose red’ I didn’t get same with ‘homecoming 1909’,’in skokie’ and ’the visitors’
‘The captain’s daughter’ she should dump him,he made me mad
‘Pied piper’ was really fascinating
‘Boot’ i am glad about the ending 🦮
‘Scouting for boys’ BRO!
‘Historia calamitatum mearum’ HA!
‘Metamorphosis’ uhhhhhmm sirrr wut 🦅why? ✈️
‘Ugly sister’ yeahhh i saw that coming..the end tho..good one
Bud ‘Gingerbread boy’ was the best for me because it got me thinking..and I had a real OooooHhhhh by the end and it made sence how he feels,so jup jup I pick it as my fave
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews