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May Day
May is just seventeen when the factory goes up, killing her parents and her sister in their home. In a split second, she has been rendered an orphan. The war is at its height and May has no option but to relocate to the country, moving in with her father’s sister, a strict church-going woman who never did approve of May’s mum nor her heathen ways.
Despite Aunt Celia’s disapproval, May continues to practice the superstitions her mum drummed into her. Until the one time she doesn’t; at which point something dark and deadly arises and proceeds to invade her life, determined to claim her as its own...
Despite Aunt Celia’s disapproval, May continues to practice the superstitions her mum drummed into her. Until the one time she doesn’t; at which point something dark and deadly arises and proceeds to invade her life, determined to claim her as its own...
- GenresHorrorHistorical Fiction
73 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 4, 2021
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 7, 2021
And so on to the latest of the NewCon novellas and I have to say that I was not sure what I was letting myself in for.
This book is definitely a "slow burn" with a mixture of fantasy and horror all mixed up with the story of a young girl coming to terms with living with a relative after the sudden and unexpected loss of her family.
This is one of those stories that you read the promotional material on and yes I guess start making presumptions - most of which by the end of the book I had to revise - and that to me is the sign of a gifted author and clever story.
So what can I say about this story - well that is the problem due to the nature of the story any discussion or comment could give something away and the whole story relies on the build up of tension and suspense.
That said the author set the story in and around Northampton and being from that area there is a sense of familiarity to it all. So what did I think - once I was engaged with the story it was great fun but I will say it is one that I had to commit to to really get the benefit.
This book is definitely a "slow burn" with a mixture of fantasy and horror all mixed up with the story of a young girl coming to terms with living with a relative after the sudden and unexpected loss of her family.
This is one of those stories that you read the promotional material on and yes I guess start making presumptions - most of which by the end of the book I had to revise - and that to me is the sign of a gifted author and clever story.
So what can I say about this story - well that is the problem due to the nature of the story any discussion or comment could give something away and the whole story relies on the build up of tension and suspense.
That said the author set the story in and around Northampton and being from that area there is a sense of familiarity to it all. So what did I think - once I was engaged with the story it was great fun but I will say it is one that I had to commit to to really get the benefit.
May 5, 2021
Insidious Northampton
A superb story about an orphaned teenager in the Second World War, who moves to Northampton to live with her aunt after a factory explosion destroys her family, only to find she has brought something more evil upon herself by forsaking her mother's superstitious ways.
A compellingly authentic narrative, evoking the timeless awkwardness of teenage years, and the monsters that lurk on the edges of our consciousness.
A superb story about an orphaned teenager in the Second World War, who moves to Northampton to live with her aunt after a factory explosion destroys her family, only to find she has brought something more evil upon herself by forsaking her mother's superstitious ways.
A compellingly authentic narrative, evoking the timeless awkwardness of teenage years, and the monsters that lurk on the edges of our consciousness.
September 13, 2021
May is seventeen when the factory her father works at explodes, abruptly orphaning her when the blast also claims many of the residential houses around it. With no choice but to move to Northamptonshire, to stay with her church-going and unapproving Aunt Celia, May finds herself leaving behind an urban childhood and the numerous superstitions her mum drilled into her. Aunt Celia didn’t like the various rituals, thinking them silly and by trying to keep them going, May only highlights her outsider status in the close-knit community. Trying to fit in, she decides not to act on one superstition but quickly realises it was there for a purpose, a rite of protection and her act of defiance has brought something dark into her life that won’t rest until it claims its terrible prize.
The debut novella from the talented Ms Coleman, this has an assured pace and style which belie her slim publication credits and show the writer as one to watch in future (her first published short story appeared in an Ellen Datlow anthology). May holds centre stage throughout the book and even though we see her go through every aspect of being a teen, in a very evocative portrayal of the age, she’s never less than sympathetic. Whether dealing with love and protection, or rejecting both, surviving lecherous boys and unpleasant girls, May never comes across as tiresome or unpleasant and it’s a tribute to the writing that she’s a real person, surviving in circumstances most of us can barely imagine and often trying to do her best, even if falling short. Aunt Celia is another great creation, her hard shell slowly revealed over the course of the book to show a woman who has to make a good impression with her neighbours, while trying her hardest to cope with a child, something she’s never had to deal with before. Watching Celia deal with issues, both for and against May, produced some beautifully realised set-pieces and some achingly sad dialogue too. The location is well used too and, although set in 1940, great use is made of real Northampton locations - May’s trip to the library is the same today, though the surroundings are very different - and captures village life, torn between the hardship of war and the need to always be seen in the best light.
As the book turns darker, May comes into contact with Rabbi Josiah and we come to understand not only what’s plaguing her but also the terrible price she might have to pay. The ‘monster’ is kept mostly in the shadows, often lurking just out of sight, but the glimpses we get are all the more shocking for their brevity and the threat is kept bubbling up, just between the lines, a constant nervous tension that is cleverly sustained right through to the end.
Told with real heart and a great sense of menace and unease, the reader is pulled into the book from the off and never released, dropped into a world that might be recognisable (for most of us) from wartime TV shows or films but with its own outlook too. By focussing on the intimate scale of May’s life, we see the world around her and make our own connections that her character’s age won’t allow her to, giving the reader an extra sense of despair. Well written, well paced and beautifully atmospheric, this is an excellent read and will hopefully alert more readers of dark fiction to the talents of Emma Coleman.
The debut novella from the talented Ms Coleman, this has an assured pace and style which belie her slim publication credits and show the writer as one to watch in future (her first published short story appeared in an Ellen Datlow anthology). May holds centre stage throughout the book and even though we see her go through every aspect of being a teen, in a very evocative portrayal of the age, she’s never less than sympathetic. Whether dealing with love and protection, or rejecting both, surviving lecherous boys and unpleasant girls, May never comes across as tiresome or unpleasant and it’s a tribute to the writing that she’s a real person, surviving in circumstances most of us can barely imagine and often trying to do her best, even if falling short. Aunt Celia is another great creation, her hard shell slowly revealed over the course of the book to show a woman who has to make a good impression with her neighbours, while trying her hardest to cope with a child, something she’s never had to deal with before. Watching Celia deal with issues, both for and against May, produced some beautifully realised set-pieces and some achingly sad dialogue too. The location is well used too and, although set in 1940, great use is made of real Northampton locations - May’s trip to the library is the same today, though the surroundings are very different - and captures village life, torn between the hardship of war and the need to always be seen in the best light.
As the book turns darker, May comes into contact with Rabbi Josiah and we come to understand not only what’s plaguing her but also the terrible price she might have to pay. The ‘monster’ is kept mostly in the shadows, often lurking just out of sight, but the glimpses we get are all the more shocking for their brevity and the threat is kept bubbling up, just between the lines, a constant nervous tension that is cleverly sustained right through to the end.
Told with real heart and a great sense of menace and unease, the reader is pulled into the book from the off and never released, dropped into a world that might be recognisable (for most of us) from wartime TV shows or films but with its own outlook too. By focussing on the intimate scale of May’s life, we see the world around her and make our own connections that her character’s age won’t allow her to, giving the reader an extra sense of despair. Well written, well paced and beautifully atmospheric, this is an excellent read and will hopefully alert more readers of dark fiction to the talents of Emma Coleman.
June 8, 2022
May Day is a fun novella.
Generally speaking, stories set in either of the world wars don't normally catch my attention, but this story did and I'm glad.
This one's a slow burner with a big pop at the end. It's creepy, it's eerie, and I only realised what May had gotten herself into around the same time that she did. The ending was quite abrupt, but it helps paint a picture of how high the stakes were regarding May's circumstances.
It's a fun little read.
4/5
Generally speaking, stories set in either of the world wars don't normally catch my attention, but this story did and I'm glad.
This one's a slow burner with a big pop at the end. It's creepy, it's eerie, and I only realised what May had gotten herself into around the same time that she did. The ending was quite abrupt, but it helps paint a picture of how high the stakes were regarding May's circumstances.
It's a fun little read.
4/5
May 17, 2022
This had so much potential to be a great ghost story, but it was too rushed with not enough atmosphere.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews