The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night

by Jen Campbell

'These days, you can find anything you need at the click of a button.
That's why I bought her heart online.'

Spirits in jam jars, mini-apocalypses, animal hearts and side shows.
A girl runs a coffin hotel on a remote island.
A boy is worried his sister has two souls.
A couple are rewriting the history of the world.
And mermaids are on display at the local aquarium.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a collection of twelve haunting stories; modern fairy tales brimming with magic, outsiders and lost souls.

Animals
Jacob
Plum pie. Zombie green. Yellow bee. Purple monster
In the dark
Little deaths
The beginning of the world in the middle of the night
Pebbles
Aunt Libby's coffin hotel
Sea devils
Human satellites
Bright white hearts

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Fiction, Anthologies, LGBT, Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2017

About the author

​Jen Campbell is a bestselling author and award-winning poet. Her short story collection The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is published by Two Roads, her children's picture books, Franklin's Flying Bookshop, Franklin and Luna go to the Moon, and Franklin and Luna and the Book of Fairy Tales are published by Thames & Hudson. Her poetry collection The Girl Aquarium is published by Bloodaxe.

Jen is also the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops series, and The Bookshop Book. Her poetry pamphlet The Hungry Ghost Festival is published by The Rialto. She's a recipient of an Eric Gregory Award and won the Jane Martin Poetry Prize.

Jen worked as a bookseller for ten years and now has a Youtube channel, where she talks about all things books. She also runs a podcast called BOOKS WITH JEN, is Vlogger in Residence for the Poetry Book Society, offers writing workshops and editorial services, and runs a book club for TOAST.

She grew up in the north east of England and now lives in London. She is represented by Charlie Campbell at Kingsford Campbell.

Reviews

[High Lady of The Night Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There are many different types of beginnings. And who’s to say we haven’t imagined our lives up to this point? Who’s to say we haven’t been propelled into this world from a parallel universe? One that’s just come into existence? This could be the very beginning of it, now. I mean, there’s no one else here. Listen. It’s completely quiet."

When you read stories written by different people, the stories tell you a lot about the person who wrote them. Reading this compilation of the most amazing tales has led me to the conclusion that I would love to meet Jen Campbell. The stories in this book reveal a lot about human nature and how the author perceives the world, what it was, what it could be, what it is, and what it will never be. Each tale has an underlying current of philosophy and moral contemplation that I will never forget. Some of these stories are extreme and some of them are so normal yet they all belong together in this book.

I loved every single story, each character represented something different and each world led to new thoughts. I give this book 5 stars and look forward to anything else that comes from Jen Campbell's mind. These stories are beautiful, eccentric, wild, crazy, and they blew my mind. The writing is wonderful and the stories are not ones I will forget.

Animals : This story is horrifying, unnatural, inhuman, repulsive, and yet I couldn’t stop reading. It’s a story of hearts and I will leave it at that.

Jacob : This one is very descriptive and the descriptions are quite eccentric - I like it. It’s written from the perspective of a child who doesn’t quite have a grasp of the world and whose mind is constantly being influenced by the people around him. There’s quite a lot of philosophical debate coming from a child. It’s really very beautiful.

Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster : This one’s a retelling of sorts, magical realism.I feel like this ones a metaphor for how you’re treated if you’re different, picked apart and experimented upon. But it also reflects upon the bond of friendship.

In The Dark : This one’s very… well not out of place in this world. Definitely more human than the 1st and 3rd one and is beautiful in its simplicity.

Margaret and Mary and the End of the World : This one is about a girl who had a terrible childhood, raised by a monster. Terrible being an extreme understatement. A story nearly as inhuman as the first one but rooted in the real world which makes it all the more horrifying.

Little Deaths : I quite like this one. It's kind of morose but I really enjoyed the concept of catching ghosts in jars.

The Beginning Of The World In The Middle Of the Night : This is my favorite so far. I love everything about this story. It was written beautifully. I like to think of it as a story of love, life,and philosophy. If you’re not going to read this book I recommend you to read just this one at least.

Pebbles : Here’s a story romanticizing war. This one is pretty mundane and I liked the significance of pebbles.

Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel : This one’s a scam.

Sea Devils : I don’t know what to say about this one, except that the characters think crabs are devils.

Human Satellites : Science Fiction and imagination running wild.

Bright White Hearts : this might be my second most favorite story. It’s a story about fish, stars, and origins. Scars, words, and science.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reader: please be aware that Jen Campbell did not like my review of her short stories which follows; in fact, she removed me as a friend here on Goodreads because of it. I would like it to be known - although it should already be obvious - that all of the reviews which I write express my own personal opinion. I have never, and will not ever, compromise my standing and integrity as a reviewer by pretending I love books which I am indifferent to or, in this case, which I was markedly underwhelmed by. A lot of people have loved this, as can be seen by other reviews, but surely every author should be aware that a book which appeals to every single reader cannot exist; we all have very personal tastes, and what works for one person will not appeal to another. I stand by my thoughts on this tome wholeheartedly.

Like many readers, it seems, I was suitably intrigued by Jen Campbell's first short story collection, The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night. Fellow bloggers and BookTubers seem to have loved it, and so my hopes were high. I was, actually, incredibly disappointed.

I really like the use which Campbell has made of fairy- and folktales, but a lot of these seem to have been copied verbatim from translations of Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and the like. The prose which has been used to relay these often recognisable chunks of stories is rather simplistic, and not what I was expecting. The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night did not feel like a cohesive collection to me, and I found myself disliking more stories than I enjoyed. Campbell's style felt largely choppy, and a lot of the stories appear unfinished; there is very little polished prose here. I found Campbell's short stories distinctly underwhelming, with the exception of the fantastic 'Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster', which is a real shame. I have detailed my reasoning of my overall 2 star rating below, with a short commentary on each story in the collection.

- 'Animals' (3 stars): I found the overall plot rather original, but felt that the prose was a little too abrupt to work.
- 'Jacob' (3 stars): The narrative voice felt authentic in its naivety and phrasings; I liked the fact that it was epistolary.
- 'Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster' (5 stars): From the outset, this felt magical; I loved the nods to fairytales; the relaying of tiny details was executed beautifully; quite a poetic story; clever; definitely my favourite in the collection.
- 'In the Dark' (2 stars): An odd little tale; there was no context to it; the narrative voice did not gel well for me; I would have preferred it to have been longer and better developed, with at least some elaboration, if not an explanation, to it.
- 'Margaret and Mary and the End of the World' (3 stars): I liked the use of art here, and the transplantation of a biblical story into the present day was interesting enough; I did admire the fact that so many stories and slices of history had been spliced together.
- 'Little Deaths' (3 stars): A good idea, which seemed underdeveloped; I would have personally liked to see this as one of the longer stories in the collection; it had a lot of potential; ultimately, it seemed rushed.
- 'The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night' (2 stars): I liked the play format as something a little different here, but it wasn't really my style regardless; a lot of the prose felt banal.
- 'Pebbles' (2 stars): Again, this felt rather rushed; there was not as much of a point to it as I had anticipated when I began to read.
- 'Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel' (2.5 stars): Quite an original idea; I liked the use of mythology; again, it ended really abruptly.
- 'Sea Devils' (1 star): Really strange; the accents felt quite overdone.
- 'Human Satellites' (2 stars): I enjoyed the prose; a little too embedded in science-fiction for my particular tastes; not really my thing.
- 'Bright White Hearts' (2 stars): Clearly well researched; I liked all of the factual details; the story which Campbell has created is rather strange, and a little jarring; it jumped around too much for me.

[Maxwell]

Full disclosure: Jen Campbell is a friend of mine and the publisher sent me a free copy of this book. However, all opinions expressed are completely my own, and there is no obligation on my part to review this. I do not, however, give star ratings to books written by friends.

I've been lucky enough to know Jen online for a couple years now, and it's been really cool to follow her journey as an author. With this collection, she dives into short fiction—and she does so wonderfully. These stories are whimsical and magical and mysterious and macabre. She straddles the line of reality and fantasy so well. The stories are very much grounded in the real world but with touches of magic that elevate them. My only wish is that some of the stories had been a bit longer. The ones that were the longest were my favorite because we got to spend time with these weird and wonderful characters Jen has crafted. If you are fans of magical realism or speculative fiction—like China Mieville or Kelly Link—you will definitely enjoy these stories.

[Jennifer (Insert Lit Pun)]

I enjoyed this so much, even though the description didn’t sound like my kind of book (bizarre short story concepts have burned me in the past – I don’t care how weird a story idea is, I care if it’s executed well). This is a collection of 12 stories, many inspired by details from fairytales and folklore. My favorite thing about it is how all the stories build on each other in subtle ways throughout the collection – tiny echoes of previous questions and themes pop back up periodically, and whenever I spotted a connection it made me rethink the significance of previous stories. For the most part this book has crisp writing laden with emotional subtext, and I found the stories fun and readable (so much so that it’s easy to breeze through and miss things – I got a lot out of re-reading certain passages). My favorites were “Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel” and “In the Dark,” but honestly I enjoyed almost all of them, and the experience has motivated me to pick up more short story collections this year.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is perhaps the strangest and most beautiful anthology I have ever read. Strange and beautiful in equal measure, as the two battle each other for dominance in this expertly delivered series of short tales.

Each of the stories, contained within, had a bizarre focus and a whimsical vibe that made this an abstract and surreal insight to life. This crooked view of the world somehow made the everyday chaos of our own reality make a little more sense and provided an alternative approach to dealing with the truth by approaching it through the fanciful. This felt akin to many traditional fairy tales I have read, in that respect, and this made for a nostalgic return to my childhood so surely did it envelop the feelings of these classic pieces.

I found the open-ended nature of these pieces to be, on times, a little disconcerting. This is purely a personal preference, but I tend to adore full-length novels that feature such abstract endings but yearn for more concrete foundations in my short fiction. Here, this approach worked, however, and once I got used to this style of narrative permeating the entire body of work could I begin to appreciate how I, the reader, became drawn into the telling of these tales. It is often left up to individual interpretation on how these will be received and understood, which a reading of any collection of reviews will tell you. Each reader will find their own story within these stories, and that is what makes this a truly wonderful collection as there really is something for everyone, here.

A breakdown of my ratings for each individual story:
Animals - 4/5 stars
Jacob - 4/5 stars
Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster - 4/5 stars
In the Dark - 3/5 stars
Margaret and Mary and the End of the World - 3.5/5 stars
Little Deaths 3/5 stars
The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night - 4/5 stars
Pebbles - 3.5/5 stars
Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel - 3/5 stars
Sea Devils - 3.5/5 stars
Human Satellites - 3/5 stars
Bright White Hearts - 5/5 stars

[Figgy]

RTC


Animals - 4/5
Throwing punches from the first line!
Set in a world where using animal hearts for transplant is commonplace, and told by a man who is maybe not so unusual in this world of easily replaced hearts, but also takes a look at rape-culture and a woman's right (or lack thereof) to choose what she does with her own body.

Jacob - 3/5
After "Animals" this one lacks a lot of oomph, and it's a bit of a mystery as to whether it even fits the rest of this collection (too early to tell). It does examine some pretty stressful life events from the point of a boy too young to really understand what they mean, exploring all the questions that come up as a result and the sweet or humorous ways this young boy's mind might misinterpret the event. There's a certain level of resilience here as a result of not quite understanding what's going on.

Plum Pie, Zombie Green, Yellow Bee, Purple Monster - 5/5
Oooh, I actually really liked this one, though I'm still not entirely sure what was going on... Took a little while to get into, and the HTML thing seemed a bit out of left field, but had a nice wrap up in the story. A cross between fairytales, summer camp, coming of age, and vibes from a whole lot of sci-fi/spec fic worlds I've visited.
A whole bunch of kids who are part human part plant attend camp every year, which is fun for the first few weeks, but not so much at the end, where they are worked on by tree-surgeons, and pruned, and experimented on.

In the Dark - 3/5
A mute stranger walks into a woman's kitchen at night while she's washing up. There's a lot of speculation in this one for a fairly simple setting, and it looks at the ways in which people who don't speak the same language can communicate, whether that's people from another country or people from another planet, perhaps?
I would have liked to know a little more about the setting, but the unknowns are part of this story, as told to us by the woman in the kitchen.

Margaret and Mary and the End of the World - 5/5
Such a lot to unpackage here - about eating disorders, teen pregnancy, and pedophilia, interspersed with fairytales, other stories, and our narrator's speculation. One of the fairytales actually made me laugh out loud at one point. Rather than coming out and saying any of the squeamish things, Campbell paints around the issues for the reader to speculate and uncover, and though the ending left some questions I would have liked answered, they made sense within the setting of the story.

Little Deaths - 4/5
I really loved the picture this painted of a world where little ghosts come from people, escaping from their lungs and certain scientists who are trying to "cure" people of the ghosts, which would theoretically make them immortal.
At only 5 pages this was far too short to satisfy properly, and I would like to read a novel set in this world, please!

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night - 5/5
Told entirely in dialogue, as though in a script, a couple theorise about potential beginnings. Sweet and heartfelt, but also with a dose of sadness. Again, not the kind of sadness said outright, and the mechanisms of the story are unknown to the reader and could mean one of a few things, but it's all there if you read between the lines. I love the relationship between these two, and the chat they have is reminiscent in certain ways of late-night discussions I've been part of, myself, so it was easy to fall for these two.

Pebbles - 3/5
Wanted to love this one about a lesbian romance set against the backdrop of wars and human rights battles, but it was too disjointed and I just couldn't get into the flow of it. Also mot sure if the MC at the start of the story knew the love interest or if she just imagined her, and then somehow ended up with this dreamed/imagined redhead.

Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel - 5/5
This is probably the most easy to predict story in the collection, but the great writing and the interesting premise were also very strong here.
A girl and her aunt run a coffin hotel, selling the idea that people can spend a night in one of their coffins and come closer to making contact with loved ones who have passed. They do this by way of finding out information and using it to convince their guests, but not all is as it seems.

Sea Devils - 3/5
I didn't love this story, per se, and the way it was so disjointed made it really hard to get lost in it... but there were some really intriguing things for the reader to find between the lines here. Things that were never said outright but which we know to be true.
The story itself is about two friends who drift apart when one begins chasing stardom, but this isn't really about the story so much as the messages between the lines.

Human Satellites - 5/5
As a sci-fi nut I love the idea of a planet being discovered which is "composed of soundbites from across the universe", and the resulting desire for understanding of said planet and the inevitable conflict between the people searching for answers and those who think the planet is evil and the cause of illness.
Short and snappy, and not so much a story as a musing on the aforementioned events... I'd like to read a bit more about this in longer form.

Bright White Hearts - 3/5
I'm really torn with this one... It does offer some fantastic quotes and looks at the way deformity is and has been viewed in our society, and explores a certain obsession with the sea. There were so many things about this one that were worthwhile, but then it was also just a grouping of disjointed thoughts. It was hard to really get a proper sense of the story as there wasn't really much story to speak of, but then you would be hard pressed to call it character driven, too. So what was it? I'm not quite sure... Stream of consciousness?

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really enjoyed this. It was magical, imaginative and wonderful.

[[ J o ] · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was recommended this when I asked for Short Story Collections. The cover is lovely and the title is magnificent. Unfortunately, that appears to be the only good things about this.

Okay, so the grammar, punctuation and spelling is fine. In fact, it's very good. And I enjoyed the imagination during some of the stories I read, but above all of that suffocating it was a dullness I couldn't bear and a writing style that left me feeling nothing after every story.

There seemed no heart to the stories, no character development, no precision in the way these tales were offered.

The most infuriating part, I think, were the weird fact dumps that occurred in almost every story. I don't know if it was the author showing off or her desire to teach us new things, but it was off-putting to have the story interrupted with - granted a relevant one - a fact. Just a fact, slotted in. Here is a fact about swans, here is one about some poet or about the bible, maybe something else that is related to the story but offers nothing to it at all.

It was jarring. There was no flow and the writing style changed from one to another. The imagination itself was not enough to create a decent enough atmosphere to enjoy the story. I was not enjoying myself and ended up not finishing the collection. I have long since given up trying to finish reading books that I am not enjoying.



Animals, 2 Stars: Hmm. An interesting start: In a world where hearts are easily transferable and can be swapped out for animal hearts in order to love each other better, one man gets a swan's heart in the hopes of re-igniting his own failing relationship.

I really enjoyed the imagination and the new world that had been created: a facsimile of our own with some people's ideas of what love is, but truly the execution was... lacklustre. It felt cold, though I can't put my finger on why. The storytelling felt more like it was just a story being told, which sounds silly but that's the only way I can think to describe it. It just plodded along, here's what happened, here's a fact about swans, here is what happened next, here is this. I felt no joy, it didn't enchant or grip me. It was just a story. Written well, but there didn't feel to be any-excuse my pun-heart in it.

Jacob, 1 Star: A boy named Jacob writes a letter to a weather presenter to ask the questions he doesn't think he can ask anyone else.

I have to say, this story was a non-event for me. I understand the premise and the fact this boy is struggling with life and things are happening that he doesn't understand, but it was just so boring . Whilst I did feel that the boy's voice was an authentic voice (we are not told his age but from the way he speaks one assumes around Primary School age) I just found him incredibly dull and that he had nothing particular to say. There were no revelations, nothing really terrible happening, just some family issues and the world being the world.

Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster., 2 Stars: Strange, plant-hybrid children are away at a camp especially made for them to get away from the world, but one of their friend's hasn't come back and they begin to wonder...

I do enjoy Jen Campbell's imagination but her execution is really poor. The writing style doesn't evoke anything particular and I find that her stories are quite bland as a result. This had some nice ideas and I would like to explore this world of plant-human hybrids but truly it was just a short, boring story with no magic writing, just good grammar.

In the Dark, 1 Star: A stranger walks in to a women's kitchen for no apparent reason and the woman doesn't seem to care.

I've been trying to think of anything nice to say about this, or even anything particularly interesting. I can't; the only thing I can think to say is it was pointless. Just completely pointless. It was trying very desperately to be something but it was just nothing. A complete non-event. Like something written by someone for homework. There is perhaps an underlying something trying to get out but truly it is short, dull and pointless. Written well, maybe, grammatically. They all are, really. Doesn't make them any more enjoyable.

Margaret and Mary and the End of the World, 1 Star: This story has made me realise why I'm not that enamoured with this collection. The sentences are often really short and stuttery, adding pace but breaking up the meaning like poetry. But then we get other sentences thrown in and the flow disappears very quickly.

On top of that, we have bland characters and boring storytelling. The stories themselves aren't that boring: they're not always original but sometimes the imagination is nice, but the storytelling is so boring. There is nothing here to draw me in and connect me to these stories.

Little Deaths, 3 Stars: A world full of ghosts, created by humans.

I enjoyed the imagination of this one the most, but I felt it was underdeveloped. Short stories are difficult to expand, but there are wonderful short stories out there and it can be done. I think the main thing is, like a lot of contemporary authors, Campbell is trying too hard to be mysterious and to write in metaphors. To be on the edge of meaning and leave interpretation as open as possible. Well, it's not working.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, 1 Star: I stopped reading after this one. Actually, that's a lie. I stopped reading maybe two thirds of the way through this one, then skimmed the rest. I can't do it any more. The imagination is not enough to keep me interested in this boring collection of stories.

[Lotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5.
This is a short story collection full of magical, fairytale inspired stories – some of which I loved, some of which I didn't care for. Some read more like individual scenes or vignettes rather than fully fleshed out stories. Others read a little "info dumpy", where I felt like author was just trying to mention as many facts about a certain topic without building an actual story around it. Granted, these facts were all quite interesting, but reading sentence after sentence that starts with "Did you know that...?" and then states a fact about underwater animals or folklore, for example, is just not what I'm looking for when reading a short story collection like this.
However, there were also some real gems in this collection (my favourites were probably Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel, Sea Devils and Animals) and I did feel like I could take away something from this collection and all in all, I'm glad I read it!

[shakespeareandspice]

Review originally posted on A Skeptical Reader.

A quick and delightful book of short tales of wonder, magic, and fairytale. Jen Campbell’s passion for storytelling, myths & magic, fairytales, and histories shone through these stories. As an amateurish short story/fairytale reader, this was an enjoyable journey out of my comfort zone.

Stories as follows:
◗ Animals - 4✨ | A story that begins with the arrival of a heart in a box. Love the immersion of fairytale, myth, and history. The peculiarities of the world, with the harvesting of hearts, were fascinating. By the end, I almost wanted the narrator to keep doing the horrid things they were just to see how far it could go.

◗ Jacob - 3✨ | A young boy writes a letter, talking about his sister and his life. I’m not completely sure how I feel about this one. I really liked the connection to Schrödinger’s cat and the exploration of our origins but felt a bit underwhelmed in some ways.

◗ Plum pie. Zombie green. Yellow bee. Purple Monster - 2✨ | Characters communicating in HTML colour codes with fairytale magic. I thought I would adore this one but the jarring narration didn’t click. Too many breaks and shifts suppressed what would’ve been a favorite.

◗ In the Dark - 3✨ | A strange visitor walks into the narrator’s home. This was surprisingly better than I expected. It gives one a lot to consider and while I can easily see why many might not like this one as strongly, I personally liked the speculating it inspires.

◗ Margaret and mary and the end of the world - 5✨ | A woman is visited by the angel Gabriel to inform her she’s been impregnated by God. I thought the part recounting the fairytale was a bit on the nose but I loved this one; it’s easily one of the best. It has a believable, complete narrator and a wonderful feminist touch.

◗ Little Deaths - 4✨ | A town full of ghosts. This one spoke about memory, loss, and relationships in a way that many could relate to. Throughout the story I had this vivid image of translucent white shadows walking amongst us as we go about our everyday human activities (such as grocery shopping or going to work). It is vivid and meaningful but I’m also disappointed that it was so short.

◗ The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night - 5✨ | A couple discuss beginnings and endings in the middle of the night. The story is entirely told in dialogue and was reminiscent of The Seer. It’s charming, mysterious, and funny—all with a touch of melancholy.

◗ Pebbles - 3✨ | A lesbian love story about love, hate, and war. They say love and hate are two sides of the same coin and this story explores the parallels of such passionate emotions.

◗ Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel - 5✨ | The title explains the premise quite well here. I loved this one. It has all the makings of a fantastical and gothic story with just the right amount of tension to keep one turning pages. I could’ve easily read a whole novel like this (secretly hoping she expands this story into novel form someday).

◗ Sea Devils - 2✨ | Two characters spend a summer killing crabs (as stated by the first sentence). This felt like a story that had a lot more to say than it did. Unfortunately, it’s one I liked the least.

◗ Human Satellites - 5✨ | On the discovery of a planet called The Hours. Another favorite tale in the collection. Humanity’s reactions are expectantly defiant, humorous, and endearing.

◗ Bright White Hearts - 4✨ | This addresses deformity and the relationship between the normal and the ‘abnormal’ (as detestable as the word is) in an special way that I loved reading. A solid ending to the collection overall.

Special thank you to the publisher and Jen Campbell for sending me a copy. All opinions stated are honest and my own. However, I will not be rating this due to the fact that I know the author and do not wish to interfere with Goodreads ratings system as a whole.

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com

Jen Campbell’s new book, The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, is a collect of 12 short stories. These are not just any short stories, though, they are very weird, yet surprisingly addictive. They also contain lots folklores and facts thrown in for good measure, like the first story telling you about the different types of swans there are.

I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to actually get on with the book, as the first story was completely strange. It is about a woman who orders a heart, a swan heart, that arrives via the post. The world isn’t loving enough so people’s hearts are dying, and they need to have them replaced; animal hearts are the new heart replacements. As I sad, baffling, though I did understand the concept behind the story.

I like short stories, I like the fact that I can pick up a book and within a short space of time I have read a full story. They are also quite fast paced as the stories don’t have the word count to ebb and flow.

Apart from being strange, the stories are all quite dark too. They are thought-provoking and at times take some concentration. The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a fantastic read, one that I would highly recommend.

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this - beautifully written, with a great mix of fantastical, surreal and more realist stories. My favourite story was probably 'Jacob', but the title story, 'The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night' was definitely a close second.

[Eric Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of watching Jen Campbell’s histories of fairy tales on her YouTube channel for some time. She gives fascinating descriptions of the dark content and themes of these stories which have been passed down through generations and illuminates how the original tale is often far different from a Disney interpretation. So I was incredibly eager to read this series of original modern-day fairy tales she’s written in her first collection of short fiction “The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night”. These are stories about fantastical situations such as purchasing hearts online, capturing ghosts to sell on the black market, a hotel where the guests sleep in coffins and a far away planet that acts as a time capsule. These distorted versions of the world often inventively shed new light on our emotional reality by ruminating on conditions such as love, jealousy, greed and the origin of existence. It makes this book such a richly rewarding and pleasurable reading experience.

Read my full review of The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell on LonesomeReader

[Kitty G Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

* I was sent this for free from the publisher *

This book is one I have been highly anticipating since I first followed Jen on Youtube as she's a wonderful lady filled with bizarre but beautiful ideas. I just knew this collection would be one I really enjoyed, and there was so much in this that I couldn't help but to adore. It's wacky, whimsy, and very wonderful too. Each story felt distinct and even the very short short ones had a story to tell. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys magical realism or poetry as these stories have a dream-like stream of consciousness flowing throughout them. I just adored some of them, and other ones made me really think. It was a great mixture and hopefully there's something for everyone here, as long as you like a bit of oddity.

I updated my thoughts for most of the stories as I went so I will re-list them below:

Pebbles - an LGBTQ+ story which related the chaos of the world with the love that can also be found. Fairly short but enjoyable and thought-provoking still. 3.5*s

Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel - this one was steeped in mythology and deceit and I have to say I very much enjoyed (and was disturbed by) the idea of staying in a coffin hotel! 4*

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night - a conversation between two people called Julian and Evelyn and the beginnings they remember and recreate in the darkness of night. Loved this one :) 5*s

Margaret and Mary and the end of the world - the amount of cleverly woven references and art work within this story was just superb. I think it is one of my favourites in the collection. 4.5*s and definitely a vivid one with some fun tongue-twisty moments and distribution on fairy-tales I know

In the Dark - a short tale about a soldier visiting a woman and her encounter. Bit odd for me and a bit short so couldn't take as much from this one 2.5*s

Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster. - This one was a story about a camp where children can go if they've sprouted plants in their bodies. It was the most easy to visualise of the stories so far, and I would for sure read about entire novel on the theme as this felt like a snippet. 4.5*s

Jacob - a letter-based story from the POV of a young boy writing to a stranger, Miss Winter, who is the weather lady. This one felt very much like stream of consciousness and yet asked lots of big questions I too would have liked to answer to. A heartfelt story, if a subtle one. 4*s

Animals - Fairytale inspired, grim and peculiar. Curious and quirky. Twisty, turny. I really, really enjoyed this. It had a sense of familiar with a sense of strange. Definitely my kind of story 4.5*s.

There were three other final stories which I read at the end and didn't update individually on, but the final story in the collection felt so raw and real to me. I think if you know Jen at all you can see some of her in each story, but the final one felt particularly real to me and I definitely loved that one so I gave it 5*s - Bright White Hearts

Overall I would say this is well worth buying for the combined beautiful cover and marvellous stories. if you get a chance to meet Jen at a signing or anything else you should definitely get this one, it was excellent. 4.5*s

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I discovered her name on the book cover, I knew that I had to read this one!!

Jen Campbell is like a good old friend to me thanks to her YouTube channel..
There she presents novels and speaks about them..
I love her enthusiasm and love!!

Wandering trough the isles of my local library I found this jewel, and spontaneously decided to take it and carry it home..
Although I didn't know anything about the book itself..
And back at my home I begun immediately to read it..

What a wonderful collection of short stories!!
Very original and some of them dark..
But all of them intelligent and wonderful written!!

Jen is fascinated by the subject of the history of fairy tales, so you will come across them..
They are interwoven in the fabric of this marvelous set of twelfth short stories..

And she does it very cunningly, prompting and urging you to think and ponder what you have just read!!

"..Mermaids are on display at the local aquarium.
A girl runs a coffin hotel on a remote island.
A couple are rewriting the history of the world in the middle of the night.."

I loved it so much, that I will order my own copy at my favorite book shop!!!
Because I want this book to stand by me, so I'll be able to enjoy it again and again!!!

Happy readings..

Dean;)

[luciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There are many beginnings, though. Somewhere, underground, there should be a massive row of filing cabinets, winding and branching out across the country. And each of them should contain everyone's- and everything's- beginnings."

Rating: 5/5 stars.


The Beginning Of The World In The Middle Of The Night is the most creative and unique book I’ve ever read in my entire life. And no, I’m not being dramatic.

Each story brings something new to the table, whether it’s a new point of view on social issues through metaphors or a unique story for aesthetic purposes. It’s poetic while not being snob and elitist, it’s highly enjoyable to the point that to me, it reaches the level of brain-porn (a level, so far only reached by Nietzsche and The Night Circus.)

1/How can a book be so magical and so real at the same time, I felt like I could touch the magic.

2/The writing style is the death of me, I highlighted 1/4 of the book

3/ The representation in this book is everything. NOT EVERYONE IS STRAIGHT AND WHITE AMEN TO THAT.

4/ It's brilliant and easy to understand, you fly through the pages while getting smarter, what a dream.

I don't want to dive into a spoilery section, so I won't disclose what each story is all about, I'll leave you all to discover it, but here are a few honourable quotes that I simply had to share.

This is a very short review because I can't get into the details, but I hope I gave you a reason or two to read this book nonetheless, trust me, it's better to jump into this one blind.

"There are different sorts of magic. There's hope, and there's suggestion, and there's listening to the hurt."

"It seems smug- this new version of a 'message from above' engineered by scaffolding, powered by electricity, shared on the internet. Wireless technology, that's our myth now. Telling ourselves stories that wrap around the globe. Vital whispers, buzz, buzz, buzzing."

"To confront death is to belittle death, is to come to term with death, is to live."

"It's like that, silence; you want to fill it up because it's a frightening nothing that swallows everything around it. Like a black hole."

"A beginning denotes a period in time, and, for you to pinpoint it, time must exist, and if time exists, then something exists. So, therefore, thus and henceforth, there is no such thing as nothing."

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was amazing.

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so weird but still so good???
It was like watching an entire season of black mirror if only black mirror had less technology and more paranormal elements.
The writing is special (I absolutely adored the different formats that were used) and, even if some stories touched very heavy subjects and if sometimes I couldn't tell what the heck was going on at first, I loved every single one of these stories.
I highly recommend it and I'm glad I finally gave Jen Campbell and her anthology a chance.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story collection is a love letter to fairy tales and storytelling. If I were to rate each story individually I would give it a rounded 4*, but the stories I enjoyed so much overthrown the ones that I enjoyed a bit less, and as a rule of thumb, I only give 5* to those I keep on my shelves as favourites and plan on rereading them. And to prove that this is the case with Jen’s book, I’ve already read the title story “The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night” twice. That’s how much I loved it!

Overall, the collection has a quite creepy yet excellent beginning, with “Animals,” a very powerful middle, with “Margaret and Mary and the End of the World,” “Little Deaths,” “Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel,” and an oh-so-okay ending, with “Bright White Hearts.”

It’s without a doubt that Jen Campbell the poet shines through each and every sentence in her stories, it flows effortlessly without being over-flowery and pretentious, and it has a stream of consciousness air to it that I found very refreshing and that I think it’s what gives her fairy tales a modern edge. I skim-read some reviews before picking it up, but nowhere was I warned about Jen’s humour. The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night had me giggle, like embarrassingly out-loud giggles. I had to stop and read some of it to my partner so that he didn’t think I was mad.

If you’re watching Jen Campbell’s YouTube channel, she recently announced that she’s planning on writing a novel, so I’m super excited for her! I also hope we hear more about Franklin and Luna’s reading adventures.

[Kirsty ❤️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange book. It's full of modern day fairy tales. It's magical, its whimsical, there's a lovely way with the words but some of it is very disturbing. The first story Animals about buying animal hearts from the internet, heart transplants and even eating them just weirded me out. 

I've never been disturbed in such a beautiful way before! 


I've not read any of the authors other work before so I suppose I wasn't quite expecting what I got. I do think I'll probably read it again so I can full appreciate the style. Overall I did like it but I think I need to absorb the stories a bit more

Free arc from netgalley

[Tink Magoo is bad at reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

So ... in the beginning... In the beginning there was nothing. Not a ripple moved throughout the Universe because there were no atoms, and there was no energy. And then - because that's always how things go - and then. And then there was something.

As with a lot of short story collections I've read, this was a very mixed bunch of good and bad. While I really appreciated the concept of 2 (Jacob and Animal), the rest of the stories didn't quite work for me. They are all strange and could be good ideas to develop on, they just didn't make me feel anything. I think I'm probably just too uneducated literature wise to be able to appreciate this more.

[Esraa Adel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure I liked this book. I went into this book expecting to find sort of dark and twisty stories and was very disappointed reading what I read. the majority of the stories were "ok". there was nothing special about them. they weren't bad, I liked a few, but I didn't love them. the rest of the stories I felt were a bit pretentious. or maybe I was just too stupid to understand the true meaning of them I don't know. but overall this book just wasn't for me.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this beautifully written collection of twelve short stories by Jen Campbell.
Some made me giggle and some brought a tear to my eye
My favourite stories being 'Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel' and 'Little Deaths'.
Jen's love for the fairy tale beams from the pages throughout and the writing is beautiful.
I love watching her videos on YouTube and recommend 'Fairy Tales with Jen' series in which she talks about the history of fairy tales and where they was originated.

[Renee Godding · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Based on the tiny synopsis, and the fact that it has Jen Campbells name on it, I was sold:

Spirits in jam jars, mini-apocalypses, animal hearts and side shows.
A girl runs a coffin hotel on a remote island.
A boy is worried his sister has two souls.
A couple are rewriting the history of the world.
And mermaids are on display at the local aquarium.

This sounds like it was made for me!

Yet for a book I was so excited for, I put off reading it for a very long time. This seems to be a trend for me; the higher the expectation, the greater my fear of disappointment. I’d rather live in the bliss of anticipation of something incredible, than read something mediocre.
I am so happy to say that once I picked it up, this collection did not only meet, but surpass my expectations.

The main reason for my anticipation, and thus fear of disappointment, was the author. I have followed Jen as a reviewer and YouTuber for quite some time and I’m a big fan of her. She has great taste in books, incredible insight in writing and has given some of the best bookish recommendations I’ve ever come across.
Moreover, she seems like such a nice and wise person that I would just love to meet and talk to. She discusses important topics on her channel, that are very close to home for her. Many of those mean a lot to me as well, and I cannot express how much I admire her for her strength and eloquence in addressing them.

If this same passion and eloquence would reflect in her shortstories, I was bound to love it. Yet if it wouldn’t, I’d be at risk of being disappointed by someone I greatly respect and admire.
Luckily, I loved this shortstory collection even more than I could have hoped. Each story is highly atmospheric, magical and fairly dark and they deal with all the same topics I love Jen Campbell for, and interweaves these with elements of folklore and fairytales.
For anyone familiar with the origins of these folklore, it’s evident how well thought-out all of them are, and how each of them has a meaning that is more than skindeep.
In my opinion Jen has mastered the art of shortstory telling; every word is there for a reason, every reference is relevant... Each of these tiny stories contains a world of depth below the surface, if you allow yourself to dive in deep.

Without going into each of the stories separately, my favorite was the final one“Bright White Hearts”. Jen really put a lot of herself in that story, and it shows in the best way possible.
Other favorites were "Little Deaths" (which I see many reviewers name as their least favorite: why?) and the titular story "the Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night".

The collection as a whole is coherent as well due to the consistent themes and atmosphere. I think the entirety of it was smart, magical and most of all: brave. Jen, thank you for this little gem and thank you for sharing you voice. I am truly glad to have read this book.

[Holly Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite short story collection by any author to date. Jen's writing is rich and evocative, sometimes very disturbing. She maintains an admirable level of whimsy, even when the subject matter is at its darkest.

I often find with short story collections that after a while the stories start to blur together in my head. This wasn't the case with Jen's collection. The strength of the idea behind each one of these stories is highly impressive and makes each tale individual and memorable.

My particular favourites were Jacob, The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, and Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel.

I read this collection over the course of a month, as I wanted to savour each word, and allow time to process each story before continuing to the next one.

[alittlelifeofmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't been around for the few short story collections I've managed to get through, I tend to rate and review per story. I will be doing that with this.

***I give synopsis for each of these stories. In a way they are spoilers because the synopsis gives away the entire plot. Only read if you have read this collection.***

Animals: 4/5

This started on a really strong foot. A story about a world where you can buy hearts, and hearts only represent love and don't really make an impact on life, so you can change hearts. I thought this was equally creepy and beautiful.

Jacob: 2/5

A forgettable story. There are alternating stories in this book, long ones, and then these mini filler ones. This was my first and it wasn't very interesting. A boy named Jacob writes a local weather woman asking her questions and talks about his sister. Nothing really captivating.

Plum Pie. Zombie Gren. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster: 5/5

I spent most of this story a tad confused, but this was beautiful. It took Jen all of 14 pages for me to care about the story. In this story there is a summer camp that these people go to and these people grow plants in/on their body. Flowers, trees, etc. I loved the story and the sentimental ending, and the title is meaningful (despite sounding like mumbo jumbo).

In The Dark: 2/5

Not a bad story, but one I fail to find a point in. A strange man walks into a woman's kitchen one night, out of the blue. He says nothing to her and she ends up just pondering a lot of stuff, and then he leaves. No real point, not sure I got it.

Mary and Margaret and the End of the World: 4/5

This is where things started to really pick up for me in this collection. This was a really complex story, and one of the longer ones. It is about a girl who talks about the painting Ecce Ancilla Domini, which is of the Virgin Mary finding out she is pregnant from Gabriel. Jen used this painting to discuss this girls' life, her struggles with anorexia, and somehow manages to flawlessly fit in Hansel and Gretel in a way that compliments the story and this character's life.

Little Deaths: 4/5

I LOVED this little filler story. A world full of ghosts. Every breath you take you breath out a bit of your soul, which is the ghost. So every breath you take brings you one step closer to building your ghost, which means you will die. Bodies become ghost holders.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night: 4/5

As the title story, this had a lot to live up to. It's told in a play format, written as 2 characters having dialogue. I really enjoyed this story and thought the ending was bittersweet. Not my favourite of the collection, but enjoyable.

Pebbles: 3/5

I find this story not memorable. It follows a lesbian couple living in/visiting Northern Ireland during the conflict there. I am not completely sure why I rated this higher than the rest of the middle filler stories, but i'm sticking with my initial feelings. I think just because it had a bit more depth to it.

Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel: 5/5

My favourite story of the collection. This story was the PERFECT length. You get such a strong sense of the characters and setting, and ends with such a good ending because it's a bit open ended but you know what's going to happen. It's about a hotel on an island where the family basically rents out coffins for people to sleep in to reconnect with their deceased loved ones.

Sea Devils: 2/5

Once again, a filler story. A short 4 page story about the relationship of 2 girls and a boy getting in the way. I don't really have any feelings towards it.

Human Satellites: 2/5

This is my least favourite story, and it was only 4 pages again. I actually liked the idea of it, it's kind of about this mysterious planet and how it turns into a huge deal. Countries fight to own it, it's all over social media, people are obsessed over wanting to be the first to see it, etc. It has a lot of commentary about society and how we kind of do this to things, we want to own them claim them be the first to experience/see them.
Great commentary, but I didn't really like the story. Had it been a longer one, more fleshed out, and had the like planet been something else that was less confusing, I would have liked this more.


Bright White Hearts: 2/5

I appreciated this story. I've watched Jen's YouTube channel for many years and I understood this to be a much more personal story for her, and I think she wrote it from personal experience. I didn't love the style of it, but I did appreciate it. Just was about a girl (I think? It seems to maybe alternate between a girl POV and a fish POV) working at an aquarium, talking about various fish/sea creature facts.

This was overall, no lie, the only short story collection I've ever enjoyed. I definitely strongly recommend it.

[Michelle Curie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And then I kissed you, and, for that second, just for that one moment, the whole world and all its bullshit completely disappeared."

Can ideas be too good for their own good? The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a truly wonderful short story collection, containing twelve tales that are sometimes haunting, sometimes bizarre, but always magical.



It was the cover that drew me towards this book, and as I received a copy of this through NetGalley I dived straight into the stories without knowing what was awaiting me. I was surprised by the sheer amount of ideas that these pages have been fed. There's one about buying hearts online in order to receive affection, another one has people stay at a coffin hotel. A girl gets impregnated by God, a town is inhabited by ghosts affecting the inhabitants daily routines. A lot happens and almost all of it drew me in.



My favourite story was probably the one the book is named after, in which a couple talks about beginnings and endings in the middle of the night. It's a soft and charming tale with a fair share of melancholy. I fell in love with the characters, too, loved the way they interacted with each other and was almost sad when I had to leave them behind after a mere few pages to move on to the next story.

"This could be the very beginning of it, now. I mean, there's no one else here. Listen. It's completely quiet."

This feeling of Hey, I'm not ready to move on to the next tale yet! followed me throughout my reading. Some of the ideas were just so good that I wished they had been developed into longer stories, novels even. This book is just bursting with beginnings that could have easily been given more room to be developed. Apart from that, this is a short story collection that I would recommend to every lover of fairy tales and myths or anyone who is just looking for that whimsical touch of magic.

[Niki Sven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bajkovito, bizarno, jednostavno, prelepo, melanholično. Sve odjednom. Dugo nisam više uživala čitajući neku knjigu.

[Heidi Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best short story collection I have read in a very long time. One of my books of the year.

[Jack Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took my time when reading this collection. Normally, with a short story collection I would read one story and instantly move on to the next. I think I enjoy short stories more when I read one, then take some time to process the story before moving on.

This collection was highly enjoyable. All the stories have a dreamlike quality to them. I love magical realism more than any other genre but it is rarely done well. Here, it is done well. These stories are thought provoking and melodic in tone. I didn’t know about Jen’s other work before reading this, (I have seen on other reviews that she has a youtube channel) but it is clear that she is a poet. Her prose and writing style is captivating. I’m really glad that I picked this up and will probably go back and read some of these stories again.