Missing The Midnight

by Jane Gardam

Jane Gardam reveals again her brilliant diversity and deep understanding of the human condition. In 'Light', an evocative, lyrical piece of magic realism, a beautiful Himalayan girl defies the destiny laid out for her by her mother, but in so doing destroys the village in which she was born. In 'Missing the Midnight', a young woman having failed her exams and lost the man she loves, journeys home to the family she despises, on Christmas Eve. In 'Grace', an apparently ordinary man lives his whole life with a diamond under his skin at the back of his neck, and dies when it is finally removed. Jane Gardam weaves strange and magical occurrences into the fabric of beautifully realised lives in this stunning collection.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, British Literature, Audiobook, Adult Fiction, Literary Fiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Jane Mary Gardam was an English writer of children's and adult fiction and literary critic. She also penned reviews for The Spectator and The Telegraph, and wrote for BBC Radio. She lived in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She won numerous literary awards, including the Whitbread Award twice. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Reviews

[Deanna]

4+, tempted to round up, stars

I’m not much of a reader for short stories, nor fantastical or fanciful ones. But I’m a flat out Gardam fan and have read most of the rest of her work.

I wasn’t disappointed here, even with the large number of highly imaginative, darkly allegorical stories.

Gardam’s voice is uniquely elegant and accessible, her style warm and straightforward. Very readable while quietly extraordinary.

I don’t remember where or how I learned about Gardam but I’m grateful to whoever left a cookie trail to her work. This book isn’t where I would start for discovering her writing, but already having a strong appreciation for her I’m not disappointed in the book.

[Eleanor]

Jane Gardam writes beautiful, spare prose and tells her stories with a sure and delicate touch. I needed something as a palate cleanser after my last book, and this book of short stories was perfect for the job.

My favourite story was "The Zoo at Christmas", inspired by Thomas Hardy's beautiful poem "The Oxen" - worth seeking out if you don't know it. A lovely, funny and touching story.

Others I particularly enjoyed were "Missing the Midnight" (referring to the Christmas Eve midnight church service) and a deliciously disturbing ghost story called "Soul Mates".

3.5 stars.

[Chrissie]

************************

The Flight of the Maidens 4 stars
Bilgewater 4 stars
Faith Fox 4 stars
Crusoe's Daughter 4 stars
Old Filth 4 stars
The Man in the Wooden Hat 4 stars
God on the Rocks 3 stars
The Queen of the Tambourine 3 stars
A Long Way from Verona 3 stars
The Hollow Land 2 stars
The Summer After the Funeral TBR
Missing the Midnight TBR

[Therese Cawley]

A bit weird.

[David]

The first in this collection of short stories, that gives this book it's title, was by far the best. It was first published twenty seven years ago in "The Oldie" magazine. A young woman is boarding a packed train on Christmas Eve, on her way home from a university where she has failed her exams, and lost an older lover. Was this affair the cause? On her way to a family who despise her and whom she herself despises. Forced with her loads of luggage into a first class carriage (is she not going back to Uni?) she is joined by a young couple and a priest, a father of one of them. How will she get from Kings Cross to Watford without any money? No, she does not borrow or steal. We find out at the very end. Just ten superb pages.

There is one short story called "Old Filth". This was published in 1996, and was the germ of the idea to which the author returned in 2004 with the novel of the same name, that turned into a prize winning trilogy and three of my favourite books of all time. So this short story was very familiar as the ex-QC Filth (Failed in London Try Hong Kong) is now eighty plonk and retired to Dorset. I cannot remember if this story actually told us his real name, but the novel obviously does. A recap about his career in the Far East and about his wife Betty, who now has died. His hated adversary Veneering has actually moved in next door, and avoided for a couple of years at all costs. Until .....

There are some stories that are strange and fantastical but not to my taste. Then "Soul Mates" is a spooky story about a retired couple meeting new friends at a hotel on holiday. Again, an unexpected ending. The last, much longer, story called "The Green Man" is another weird concoction of the myth. "Now you see him, now you don't".

[Carlton]

This collection contains the original “Old Filth” short story, which is very similar to the first chapter of the subsequent novel of the same name, whose characters Gardam further developed in the two “sequels”. It’s fascinating to read the original story and gain an insight into how Gardam allowed the characters to grow subsequently. Worth buying the book for this story alone.
I also really enjoyed the final story, The Green Man.

I had previously read seven of these stories in the “best of” collection The Stories published in 2014, which shows the strength of this collection from 1997. Although I found several of the stories whimsical, they are all enjoyable and light.

[T]

This collection had 3 excellent stories. Missing the Midnight, about failing exams and leaving university, and realizing that a student's parents only cared about what others might say about this. Old Filth the short story which later became the novel was excellent. I also liked Miss Mistletoe, the story of a Christmas parasite that always had to be invited to Christmas dinner!

The Girl with the Golden Ears was weird and involved hair growth in ears, and Light was about a girl with an extra eye in an unusual spot.

3.5

WSU library

[Amy Flora]

I picked this up not realising that her other book Stories contains most, if not all, of the short stories Jane Gardam has ever written. So, this book ended up being a reread of some of her stories.

The book is a good cross-section of her stories and I was delighted to find that my favourite of her stories “Soul Mates” was included. It even includes a visit from Old Filth.

Strong recommend for any short story lovers or people looking to give them a go.

[Vivien]

This book of short stories started well and the first one left me in tears. However, they got odder and odder. I listened to the audio book so had I been physically reading it I might have given up.

[Danielle]

Each with a touch of supernatural or psychic elements, these short stories take ordinary situations and twist them just a bit. Golden ear hair, a Green Man, vacation doppelgangers, Ethiopian geese and a boy who turns into a bike, just some of the peculiar ideas that became stories.

[Tasnia Ahmad]

1 down

[Liz Owen]

I love Jane Gardens writing, and hugely enjoyed some of these short stories. Others missed the mark though for me.

[Brian Gowthorpe]

A little disappointing after Old Filth.

[Sarah]

Excellent short stories.

[Bob]

I listened on audio read by Jane Bentinck.
A quirky collection of short stories. Gardam pulls no punches. There are some disturbing issues but this is an easy read and generally good fun.

[Sophie]

This was a mixed bag for me. There were one or two stories I really enjoyed but I'm not wild about Gardam's speculative or science fiction style writing and there were several of those in this collection.

[Alexandra Daw]

I am not a big reader of short stories but they do have their uses and this slim little volume was suggested by one of the Virago Group members on Librarything when someone else was looking for a Christmas read. The first section of the book, called Five Carols, is stories about Christmas and I do think Miss Mistletoe is the best of these. The second section, Five Grotesques contains some very odd little tales indeed and of these I enjoyed The Pillow Goose. The last section, The Hauntings, was slightly disturbing or unsettling - Soul Mates was my favourite story of these. Jane Gardam writes beautifully. I feel like I should have given the book more stars for that very reason but it was light entertainment for me rather than gripping or earth shattering. So don't take my stars to mean that I thought it was bad as such...just not all my cup of tea - just a bit.

[Lisa]

Some really disturbing and creepy stories and I love the way Gardam leaves you hanging rather than spoon feeding you with explanations for things. The story about the girl with one eye was...very memorable and nightmare producing. haha.

[Rachael]

Why does every story have to end with a twist? A tease? And a few were unpleasant

[Debbie]

Good set of short stories, with some that are relevant to the season.