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Timeworn Literary Journal: Issue One
Timeworn is a literary journal based in Buffalo, NY focused on Historical Fiction. This debut issue features six enchanting stories from various time periods and settings that seamlessly merge speculative and historical detail. From Victorian Kolkata to the Western Front of WWI, Issue One of Timeworn Literary Journal will take armchair adventurers on a surprising and emotional journey through the small yet significant corners of human history.
Featuring:
"A Cut-Purse Rethinks His Ways" by Kate Heartfield
"Chasing Dark" by Ranjabali Chaudhuri
"Battlefield" by Jason J. McCuiston
"Slip Stitch" by Kat Weaver
"Where the Palm Nut Grows" by Hannah Onoguwe
"Love, by Alexander Graham Bell" by Rebecca Bennett
Featuring:
"A Cut-Purse Rethinks His Ways" by Kate Heartfield
"Chasing Dark" by Ranjabali Chaudhuri
"Battlefield" by Jason J. McCuiston
"Slip Stitch" by Kat Weaver
"Where the Palm Nut Grows" by Hannah Onoguwe
"Love, by Alexander Graham Bell" by Rebecca Bennett
73 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
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6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 14, 2020
Timeworn Issue One is a collection of six very different historical/speculative short stories and I was surprised at how differently I responded to each story. The opening story A Cut-Purse Rethinks His Ways by Kate Heartfield is set in Medieval England which is faultlessly evoked. Objects that were important to the main character Pinch seem to find their way back to him. I love the small but telling details:
“Pinch opens his fingers and opens his eyes. The sixpence catches a piece of light from the setting sun, or perhaps from the lanterns that hang over the doors of the shops that line London Bridge.”
Chasing Dark by Ranjabali Chaudhuri is, to date, the most exciting short story I have ever read. In Victorian India the main character has married into a community of artists, the women painting wedding murals. “The Ingrej, whose tastes guide the city’s richer families, have a particular fondness for love-struck young couples sparse backgrounds and soft, dreamy colours.” I won’t say too much but as things come alive and one of the women is attacked, I read breathlessly to near the end and came across this marvellous line: “But bravery and righteousness are luxuries that only people in fairy tales can afford.”
Battlefield by Jason J. McCuiston is a powerful evocation of the horror of war. Having done a lot of research into World War I, it is obvious that McCuiston has done his research and in the story we visit both sides of No Man’s Land as a terrifying monstrosity, composed of all the men that have died, begins to tower over the battlefield. This story is not for the squeamish and makes for difficult reading, just as the countless battlefields left their mark on those that managed to survive.
In Slip Stitch set in Paris in 1899 the young narrator is at odds with herself and her family; her only friend being her companion Eileen. She has a habit that is quite disconcerting and that she calls her “magic” that as a reader I couldn’t quite understand, particularly as I have suffered from a skin complaint all my life. Perhaps I am missing something that another reader will pick up in this strange story.
Where the Palm Nut Grows by Hannah Onoguwe brilliantly creates what happens when cultures clash:
“John Kirk had been dispatched by the Crown to get to the bottom of the war between the Royal Niger Company and the Nembe people.” Here he meets one of my favourite characters, Kuro. “The conversation stalled as eyes swung to her. She strode unhurriedly, perfectly balancing the basket of palm fruits on her head, their orange-red flesh catching and releasing the fading sunlight. The woman met their gazes in turn, unfazed by their regard, flicking over the pale-skinned one in their midst with a look that said, I know your kind.”
Only by speaking with Kuro can John Kirk find out what really happened to the men from the Royal Niger Company.
Last but definitely not least is Love, By Alexander Graham Bell by Rebecca Bennett. As a lover of Anne of Green Gables I immediately recognised Bright River and here were two characters very similar to Anne and Diana - Dana and Shirley and there is a boy called James Turner. The three wait at the nearby train station for the arrival of a marvellous invention - the Kindred Spirit Telephone. “The ad was clever, appealing to Christian readers who feared this new mix of science and magic. The ads, glued to shop windows and folded into mailboxes, illustrated Noah’s Ark, complete with happy couples climbing aboard. A lady for every gent.”
Of course who is the telephone going to pair with whom? You will have to read this delightful story to find out.
“Pinch opens his fingers and opens his eyes. The sixpence catches a piece of light from the setting sun, or perhaps from the lanterns that hang over the doors of the shops that line London Bridge.”
Chasing Dark by Ranjabali Chaudhuri is, to date, the most exciting short story I have ever read. In Victorian India the main character has married into a community of artists, the women painting wedding murals. “The Ingrej, whose tastes guide the city’s richer families, have a particular fondness for love-struck young couples sparse backgrounds and soft, dreamy colours.” I won’t say too much but as things come alive and one of the women is attacked, I read breathlessly to near the end and came across this marvellous line: “But bravery and righteousness are luxuries that only people in fairy tales can afford.”
Battlefield by Jason J. McCuiston is a powerful evocation of the horror of war. Having done a lot of research into World War I, it is obvious that McCuiston has done his research and in the story we visit both sides of No Man’s Land as a terrifying monstrosity, composed of all the men that have died, begins to tower over the battlefield. This story is not for the squeamish and makes for difficult reading, just as the countless battlefields left their mark on those that managed to survive.
In Slip Stitch set in Paris in 1899 the young narrator is at odds with herself and her family; her only friend being her companion Eileen. She has a habit that is quite disconcerting and that she calls her “magic” that as a reader I couldn’t quite understand, particularly as I have suffered from a skin complaint all my life. Perhaps I am missing something that another reader will pick up in this strange story.
Where the Palm Nut Grows by Hannah Onoguwe brilliantly creates what happens when cultures clash:
“John Kirk had been dispatched by the Crown to get to the bottom of the war between the Royal Niger Company and the Nembe people.” Here he meets one of my favourite characters, Kuro. “The conversation stalled as eyes swung to her. She strode unhurriedly, perfectly balancing the basket of palm fruits on her head, their orange-red flesh catching and releasing the fading sunlight. The woman met their gazes in turn, unfazed by their regard, flicking over the pale-skinned one in their midst with a look that said, I know your kind.”
Only by speaking with Kuro can John Kirk find out what really happened to the men from the Royal Niger Company.
Last but definitely not least is Love, By Alexander Graham Bell by Rebecca Bennett. As a lover of Anne of Green Gables I immediately recognised Bright River and here were two characters very similar to Anne and Diana - Dana and Shirley and there is a boy called James Turner. The three wait at the nearby train station for the arrival of a marvellous invention - the Kindred Spirit Telephone. “The ad was clever, appealing to Christian readers who feared this new mix of science and magic. The ads, glued to shop windows and folded into mailboxes, illustrated Noah’s Ark, complete with happy couples climbing aboard. A lady for every gent.”
Of course who is the telephone going to pair with whom? You will have to read this delightful story to find out.
Read
October 5, 2019A collection of stories full of really really excellent concepts and magic. In one or two the execution of the concepts doesn't grab me as much as I wish it would—the pacing's a little off or the prose just doesn't do it for me. But overall I had a very good time.
December 13, 2019
Favourites included:
'Battlefield' which brought the horrors of WW1 to vivid life, in a way I didn't see coming; and
'Slip Stitch' with its gorgeous prose and compelling relationships between mother/daughter and servant/daughter
'Battlefield' which brought the horrors of WW1 to vivid life, in a way I didn't see coming; and
'Slip Stitch' with its gorgeous prose and compelling relationships between mother/daughter and servant/daughter
Read
October 10, 2019As a contributor, I'll not give this publication a rating. I will say that the editors have done an amazing job of providing wonder and grandeur in just a handful of stories that bridge the gap between historical fiction and speculative fiction. Romance, intrigue, action, and even horror can all be found in the pages of this slim volume.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews