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Straw Gods
A straw man hung above my door like a ward of protection. Really it was a lure to charm my dead husband back. But it, like my other delusions and lies, drew lightning.
Ten years after the death of her husband, Rosa struggles to move on and takes solace in rituals and superstition. Sol, a young fisherman, braves the sea to prove himself to an absent father. As a storm rips through the small community, disaster lays bare old secrets. Rosa and Sol’s lives tangle in tragic circumstances, forcing them to face the truth about themselves and the ones they loved.
Straw Gods is the debut novella-in-flash from Tom O’Brien, a heart-wrenching drama both moving and exhilarating, perceptively exploring the effects of grief and the lasting bonds of family and friendship.
Ten years after the death of her husband, Rosa struggles to move on and takes solace in rituals and superstition. Sol, a young fisherman, braves the sea to prove himself to an absent father. As a storm rips through the small community, disaster lays bare old secrets. Rosa and Sol’s lives tangle in tragic circumstances, forcing them to face the truth about themselves and the ones they loved.
Straw Gods is the debut novella-in-flash from Tom O’Brien, a heart-wrenching drama both moving and exhilarating, perceptively exploring the effects of grief and the lasting bonds of family and friendship.
112 pages, Paperback
Published November 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 25, 2021
I’m a firm believer of the ‘less is more’ philosophy and with Straw Gods, Tom O’Brien has followed this to perfection: Although the novel is told in a flash fiction style, there’s enough emotional clout to knock someone senseless.
The book is about grief. The main protagonist Rosa has lost her husband, Matteo, in a sea accident. Although this event happened ten years ago, her longing for him for him does not decrease. She imagines him, tries to figure out his character through his hobbies. Rosa’s grief has killed her as well : she has cut off ties with her sister and her behaviour affects another main protagonist who is connected to her, Sol. There’s even one scene where she opens a trunk belonging to Matteo, which she has procrastinated in opening . The contents, are a good metaphor for the whole situation she’s in.
Speaking of metaphors, Straw Gods is rich with them : the tumultous ocean and raging fire which echo Rosa’s emotions, the straw of the book’s title, which is a shield against evil, and the pearl, which helps Rosa come to a startling realisation that helps her break free. Clearly Tim O’Brien gets the most out of so little.
Rarely have I read such a poignant portrayal of grief. Nearly every page just hits the reader, however Straw Gods is not melodramatic, neither does it manipulate. Yes the passages will stir one’s emotions but this does not take adavantage of the fact that this is, to be put simply, a sad book. There is a lot of beauty, a poetic sensibility in many of the passages in the novella. Straw Gods is what, one would call, a minmal masterpiece.
The book is about grief. The main protagonist Rosa has lost her husband, Matteo, in a sea accident. Although this event happened ten years ago, her longing for him for him does not decrease. She imagines him, tries to figure out his character through his hobbies. Rosa’s grief has killed her as well : she has cut off ties with her sister and her behaviour affects another main protagonist who is connected to her, Sol. There’s even one scene where she opens a trunk belonging to Matteo, which she has procrastinated in opening . The contents, are a good metaphor for the whole situation she’s in.
Speaking of metaphors, Straw Gods is rich with them : the tumultous ocean and raging fire which echo Rosa’s emotions, the straw of the book’s title, which is a shield against evil, and the pearl, which helps Rosa come to a startling realisation that helps her break free. Clearly Tim O’Brien gets the most out of so little.
Rarely have I read such a poignant portrayal of grief. Nearly every page just hits the reader, however Straw Gods is not melodramatic, neither does it manipulate. Yes the passages will stir one’s emotions but this does not take adavantage of the fact that this is, to be put simply, a sad book. There is a lot of beauty, a poetic sensibility in many of the passages in the novella. Straw Gods is what, one would call, a minmal masterpiece.
January 31, 2021
Flashes of grief, loss, memories, guilts, joys. Good one Mr O'Brien, nicely done, with less being definitely more.
In spite of deeds done, hurt given, hurt felt, yet still we grieve. I think grief is not only felt for the loss of a person but also for what we tie in with that person. The memories shared, the emotions felt, the dreams, wishes, needs we have tied in with that person.
In spite of deeds done, hurt given, hurt felt, yet still we grieve. I think grief is not only felt for the loss of a person but also for what we tie in with that person. The memories shared, the emotions felt, the dreams, wishes, needs we have tied in with that person.
November 24, 2020
I was delighted to be asked to provide my honest review of this work, not least because it is a novella-in-flash, a relatively new form of writing that, as a writer of both novels and flash fiction, I want to know more about. This, as it happens, was an excellent place to start. Straw Gods was longlisted for the Bath Novella-in-Flash award, and shortlisted by Ellipsis Zine, so I knew before I began reading this was going to be good. I was not disappointed.
The skill of writing a novella-in-flash is that each ‘chapter’ is a flash fiction, able to stand alone, and yet each one also builds in some way on the one before. The linking story for this novella is the widow Rosa’s transformation in grief. Those sections that follow her perspective are written in the first person, whereas when other points of view are foregrounded, the writing is in the third person. Rosa opens by saying ‘I know that you’re dead’. Still, she persists with her ever more elaborate rituals, trying to bring her husband back. Her denial persists right up to very near the end of the book. Finally, she repeats those words, now fully meaning them. I won’t spoil the tension by revealing what enables that transition, except to say that it is a hazardous and painful journey.
We are not told where the novel is set, other than it is a fishing village. The names – Matteo, Rosa, Illy, Sol - sound Italian, but the reader is left to fill in the gaps. Not knowing, not being told, adds to the mystery that is woven into each flash, and within the novella as a whole. The author uses several powerful metaphors, including the strength of sea and storm, and conversely the insubstantial protection of straw against the elements. Water cools the pain of burning, but is used up so that more must be poured daily, onto hot stones taken from the beach from which Rosa’s husband set off, before drowning. The relentlessness of grief is shown to us through the widow’s rituals, even as we glimpse the couple’s passion in life: ‘I cleaned the old wood with a scarf he slipped over my eyes one night, so I could feel but not see him.’
The language Tom O’Brien employs is achingly beautiful, the more so because it is pared down: ‘I washed ginger and desolation from my teacups’; ‘I hid a scream in the thunder, unheard by sea or sky or dead husband’; ‘There would be no swimming in my heavy skirts, and I would fall fall fall for him again.’ I could go on. I wanted to package these phrases up, like Rosa’s pearl, so that I could bring them out when I need them.
I inhabit several identities, including writer and dance movement psychotherapist. I would urge not only the general reading public, but also my psychotherapy colleagues to read this novella. The professional, dry tomes outlining the tasks of grief never quite convey its pain as creative writers do, and in particular as Tom O’Brien does here. I remember, when I was first bereaved, realising I had known the theory, but I had not fully understood the human experience, until I knew that physical and mental anguish first hand. I would urge anyone who doesn’t fully understand bereavement to read this. And for those who do, we will empathise with Rosa, and perhaps feel a little less alone when we encounter our own grief.
The skill of writing a novella-in-flash is that each ‘chapter’ is a flash fiction, able to stand alone, and yet each one also builds in some way on the one before. The linking story for this novella is the widow Rosa’s transformation in grief. Those sections that follow her perspective are written in the first person, whereas when other points of view are foregrounded, the writing is in the third person. Rosa opens by saying ‘I know that you’re dead’. Still, she persists with her ever more elaborate rituals, trying to bring her husband back. Her denial persists right up to very near the end of the book. Finally, she repeats those words, now fully meaning them. I won’t spoil the tension by revealing what enables that transition, except to say that it is a hazardous and painful journey.
We are not told where the novel is set, other than it is a fishing village. The names – Matteo, Rosa, Illy, Sol - sound Italian, but the reader is left to fill in the gaps. Not knowing, not being told, adds to the mystery that is woven into each flash, and within the novella as a whole. The author uses several powerful metaphors, including the strength of sea and storm, and conversely the insubstantial protection of straw against the elements. Water cools the pain of burning, but is used up so that more must be poured daily, onto hot stones taken from the beach from which Rosa’s husband set off, before drowning. The relentlessness of grief is shown to us through the widow’s rituals, even as we glimpse the couple’s passion in life: ‘I cleaned the old wood with a scarf he slipped over my eyes one night, so I could feel but not see him.’
The language Tom O’Brien employs is achingly beautiful, the more so because it is pared down: ‘I washed ginger and desolation from my teacups’; ‘I hid a scream in the thunder, unheard by sea or sky or dead husband’; ‘There would be no swimming in my heavy skirts, and I would fall fall fall for him again.’ I could go on. I wanted to package these phrases up, like Rosa’s pearl, so that I could bring them out when I need them.
I inhabit several identities, including writer and dance movement psychotherapist. I would urge not only the general reading public, but also my psychotherapy colleagues to read this novella. The professional, dry tomes outlining the tasks of grief never quite convey its pain as creative writers do, and in particular as Tom O’Brien does here. I remember, when I was first bereaved, realising I had known the theory, but I had not fully understood the human experience, until I knew that physical and mental anguish first hand. I would urge anyone who doesn’t fully understand bereavement to read this. And for those who do, we will empathise with Rosa, and perhaps feel a little less alone when we encounter our own grief.
November 17, 2020
Straw Gods. A novella-in flash that takes an elegant seat, waiting for grief to accomplish its purpose. A grief measured in Rosa’s breaths and intentions. With the ocean waves reclaiming the body of her beloved Matteo, life hisses at Rosa and makes her wonder if death is not real. The ocean is deceptive, learns Rosa. It has teeth. Straw Gods. A novella-in-flash that penetrates deeply into a woman’s ritual of keeping death alive, a death which sips elegantly from a cup of tea. Rosa quenches her drought when the pangs of thirst try her. Beach rocks have carved her story, her tragedy, and her submission.
Rosa has lived a dead life for a decade now, yet with a breath still vibrant, electric, and alive. She thinks it her misfortune to live, weighed in rocks and grey stones, sometimes dry sometimes burning, boiling, hurting, cutting her skin open. And she conjures. Humanely, plainly. Ginger lemon scent fills up a room to call life back. Records, pearls, an empty chest, paper bearing the mark of his fingers, a straw man hung by the door, all to call a ghost back home.
But storm, fire, and smoke rebuild Rosa. From the ground up. Her son, Sol, fights the ocean and comes out alive from its blue depths. In a burning house, all her memories go up in smoke, but precious Ceecee, her niece, is saved. Rosa’s plea, “Bury me in the ashes of what I built,” is ignored by death as life battles to show her the depths and discoveries granted by her grief. Rosa’s faith unveils all the secrets of the pearls, in the end, showing her that self-knowledge is the truest kept secret of all that is.
Rosa has lived a dead life for a decade now, yet with a breath still vibrant, electric, and alive. She thinks it her misfortune to live, weighed in rocks and grey stones, sometimes dry sometimes burning, boiling, hurting, cutting her skin open. And she conjures. Humanely, plainly. Ginger lemon scent fills up a room to call life back. Records, pearls, an empty chest, paper bearing the mark of his fingers, a straw man hung by the door, all to call a ghost back home.
But storm, fire, and smoke rebuild Rosa. From the ground up. Her son, Sol, fights the ocean and comes out alive from its blue depths. In a burning house, all her memories go up in smoke, but precious Ceecee, her niece, is saved. Rosa’s plea, “Bury me in the ashes of what I built,” is ignored by death as life battles to show her the depths and discoveries granted by her grief. Rosa’s faith unveils all the secrets of the pearls, in the end, showing her that self-knowledge is the truest kept secret of all that is.
December 28, 2020
"'You told me a pearl is a secret,' I said to the sea. 'But a pearl is a lie. A piece of dirt covered a thousand times until it looks beautiful, something people want to love. But it's still a piece of dirt, still a lie.' I dropped it, and it made no ripple."
'Straw Gods' is a novella-in-flash by Tom O'Brien (Reflex Press, 2020). Each chapter is a standalone piece of flash fiction, but collectively they tell the larger story of Rosa and her grief after the loss of her husband at sea, as well as Sol, a young fisherman, who braves the sea to prove himself to an absent father.
Rosa's life is anchored by rituals and she clings to these now her beloved husband, Matteo, is gone. Over the course of the novella, as we dig deeper into Rosa's life and her family, the secrets that were once swallowed by the sea resurface.
'Straw Gods' is a beautifully raw and tender novella about grief and love.
'Straw Gods' is a novella-in-flash by Tom O'Brien (Reflex Press, 2020). Each chapter is a standalone piece of flash fiction, but collectively they tell the larger story of Rosa and her grief after the loss of her husband at sea, as well as Sol, a young fisherman, who braves the sea to prove himself to an absent father.
Rosa's life is anchored by rituals and she clings to these now her beloved husband, Matteo, is gone. Over the course of the novella, as we dig deeper into Rosa's life and her family, the secrets that were once swallowed by the sea resurface.
'Straw Gods' is a beautifully raw and tender novella about grief and love.
May 19, 2021
Tom O’Brien had me from the very first flash of this excellent novella-in-flash. Particularly the chilly last line. In the first few flashes, or chapters, we learn about Rosa’s grief. Her husband has been dead for over ten years but she hasn’t moved on. “Once I had a marriage, now I had a ritual.”
We learn how small her world is in her island village. Her grief has completely isolated her and all she wants, incomprehensibly, is for her dead husband to come back. Gradually and. masterfully, the scene of all this grief widens when she goes outside to look at lightening illuminating the sky:
“Two young men were there too, admiring the thunderheads, standing by their boat as if they dared go fishing in the coming storm. The father of one sat on a boat a decade ago while the sea stole my husband.”
We then meet Sol the son of the man who was with Rosa’s husband Matteo when he died.
In the next few flashes we step back in time to before Rosa was married, when she was still on speaking terms with her sister Agatha.
“Agatha was on her way to marrying and having little babies in a little house. Before the same thing happened to me, I wanted a man to bring me the world, tell me the stories of life off this island, or better still show me. Was this him? The idea this was the moment my life began made me tingle.”
Each flash fiction piece is a story in itself yet a link in the chain of stories that forms Straw Gods. This may sound simple but I believe to write interlinking flash fiction pieces is harder than writing interlinking stories. With less the writer has to make more and O’Brien has formed a wonderful, compelling story from these small gems. Highly recommended.
We learn how small her world is in her island village. Her grief has completely isolated her and all she wants, incomprehensibly, is for her dead husband to come back. Gradually and. masterfully, the scene of all this grief widens when she goes outside to look at lightening illuminating the sky:
“Two young men were there too, admiring the thunderheads, standing by their boat as if they dared go fishing in the coming storm. The father of one sat on a boat a decade ago while the sea stole my husband.”
We then meet Sol the son of the man who was with Rosa’s husband Matteo when he died.
In the next few flashes we step back in time to before Rosa was married, when she was still on speaking terms with her sister Agatha.
“Agatha was on her way to marrying and having little babies in a little house. Before the same thing happened to me, I wanted a man to bring me the world, tell me the stories of life off this island, or better still show me. Was this him? The idea this was the moment my life began made me tingle.”
Each flash fiction piece is a story in itself yet a link in the chain of stories that forms Straw Gods. This may sound simple but I believe to write interlinking flash fiction pieces is harder than writing interlinking stories. With less the writer has to make more and O’Brien has formed a wonderful, compelling story from these small gems. Highly recommended.
February 21, 2021
A compelling novella in flash. I read it in one sitting and loved it. It’s a story of love, loss, grief and redemption. O’Brien creates a sense of otherworldliness around his finely drawn characters, characters halted by the pain of losing loved ones as well as by guilt and shame. I shall definitely re-read this one.
January 18, 2021
39 flash fictions making a complete narrative.
If I said I had no intention of reading Straw Gods when I did, but I thought I’d look at the first entry and was so incredibly moved and mesmerised by Tom O’Brien’s writing that I simply couldn’t tear myself away until I had consumed it all – twice – you’ll understand what a special book Straw Gods is. It is absolutely magnificent and will be heading straight onto my books of the year list for 2021.
The intensity of emotion is Straw Gods is physical. I could feel Rosa’s grief as acutely as if it were my own. And yet Straw Gods is not a depressing read despite the visceral depth of feeling. Tom O’Brien articulates so beautifully how grief can affect us, through his poetic and enchanting writing, that he brings comfort to the reader in knowing others have experienced such feelings too. Reading Straw Gods is cathartic as much as it is captivating.
Each of the individually titled chapters or flash fictions works as a complete piece that can be appreciated alone, but added together into the riveting, fast paced narrative Tom O’Brien provides in Straw Gods, they become breath-taking. There were moments when I gasped aloud as read. I wept too – not just for Rosa and Sol, but for myself and all those who’ve encountered grief in their lives. This really is a book that delivers far more than might be expected. I thought of each entry a bit like a diamond that sparkles and gleams perfectly well alone, but when added to all the other pieces, becomes dazzling so that I could not tear myself away from Tom O’Brien’s words.
Rosa is such a vivid character that I felt less that I was reading about her and more that I was experiencing every nuance of emotion she experiences. This effect is achieved through her compelling first person voice. Bordering insanity in her grief, Rosa distils grief into behaviours and feelings any reader will relate to and this is surprisingly comforting. I loved the way she reaches her personal nadir but is not entirely defeated.
Obviously grief is a major theme in Straw Gods, but there is so much more besides woven into the writing. Themes of marriage, family, self-deception, community, friendship, nature and superstition are just few aspects of this glorious text that hook the reader.
I’m finding it difficult to convey how wonderful I think Straw Gods is, but I would say please don’t let it be a quiet book that few read. Tom O’Brien’s exquisite skill needs lauding from the rooftops. In this slim volume is the essence of humanity, of grief, of honesty and of hope. Straw Gods is utterly fantastic and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
If I said I had no intention of reading Straw Gods when I did, but I thought I’d look at the first entry and was so incredibly moved and mesmerised by Tom O’Brien’s writing that I simply couldn’t tear myself away until I had consumed it all – twice – you’ll understand what a special book Straw Gods is. It is absolutely magnificent and will be heading straight onto my books of the year list for 2021.
The intensity of emotion is Straw Gods is physical. I could feel Rosa’s grief as acutely as if it were my own. And yet Straw Gods is not a depressing read despite the visceral depth of feeling. Tom O’Brien articulates so beautifully how grief can affect us, through his poetic and enchanting writing, that he brings comfort to the reader in knowing others have experienced such feelings too. Reading Straw Gods is cathartic as much as it is captivating.
Each of the individually titled chapters or flash fictions works as a complete piece that can be appreciated alone, but added together into the riveting, fast paced narrative Tom O’Brien provides in Straw Gods, they become breath-taking. There were moments when I gasped aloud as read. I wept too – not just for Rosa and Sol, but for myself and all those who’ve encountered grief in their lives. This really is a book that delivers far more than might be expected. I thought of each entry a bit like a diamond that sparkles and gleams perfectly well alone, but when added to all the other pieces, becomes dazzling so that I could not tear myself away from Tom O’Brien’s words.
Rosa is such a vivid character that I felt less that I was reading about her and more that I was experiencing every nuance of emotion she experiences. This effect is achieved through her compelling first person voice. Bordering insanity in her grief, Rosa distils grief into behaviours and feelings any reader will relate to and this is surprisingly comforting. I loved the way she reaches her personal nadir but is not entirely defeated.
Obviously grief is a major theme in Straw Gods, but there is so much more besides woven into the writing. Themes of marriage, family, self-deception, community, friendship, nature and superstition are just few aspects of this glorious text that hook the reader.
I’m finding it difficult to convey how wonderful I think Straw Gods is, but I would say please don’t let it be a quiet book that few read. Tom O’Brien’s exquisite skill needs lauding from the rooftops. In this slim volume is the essence of humanity, of grief, of honesty and of hope. Straw Gods is utterly fantastic and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
May 6, 2021
Poignant, poetic; nigh on perfect.
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December 1, 2021Read Jacqueline Saville's review at The Short Story: https://theshortstory.co.uk/flash-fic...
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January 14, 2022Interesting poetic novel.
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