Something Wonderful: Stories

by Jo Lloyd

A Most Anticipated Book of August at The Millions

From the Winner of the BBC National Short Story Award

“Jo Lloyd has drawn out all the intensity and latent power of short fiction. . . . A major talent.” —Hilary Mantel

“Her sentences could rouse the dead (and do, in this excellent book).” —Karen Russell

In Something Wonderful, prize-winning author Jo Lloyd has crafted nine stories that delight in language and shine with wit, wisdom, and deep humanity. Whether seeking knowledge, riches, or a better life, the characters in this debut collection are united by a quest for lasting value, as they ask how we should treat our world, our work, our selves, and each other in both past and present. A vainglorious mine owner dreams of harnessing all of nature to the machinery of commerce. Two women hunt rare butterflies in a pre-First World War landscape already experiencing the first bites of biodiversity loss. A young man tracks down the father who abandoned him inside a festival exhibit. A rural Welsh community is fascinated and angered by glimpses of its invisible, wealthy neighbors.

Clear-sighted and lyrical, compassionate, and full of truth, Something Wonderful from Jo Lloyd, winner of the BBC National Short Story Award, announces a remarkable new voice with a sensibility all her own.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Humor, Literature

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2021

Reviews

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each of the stories in this collection was lush and satisfying--rich both in poetry and in human feeling. Five stars for the language alone. The stories were continuously surprising to me, as well, for the way they refuse to conform to the conventions of the short story form, as defined since, oh, I don't know...since Chekov, maybe. It's not that the stories are experimental. It's more the opposite: many of them reminded me of how I feel when reading stories written in the early eighteenth century. These stories take their time. They create worlds. Each story feels complete, and yet I kept catching myself thinking: this story would make a great novel, or: this character is one I would enjoy spending another 300 pages learning more about.

None of these things are criticisms. In each of her stories Jo Lloyd very masterfully left me wanting to read more, and sorry to see that the story was soon coming to an end.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jo Lloyd is a gifted storyteller. The very first story in the collection, "My Bonny," is beautifully rendered, poetic and full of longing, with more characters than many long-form narratives, each of whom yearns for a place in this world, a world which they soon learn, doesn't even pretend to make promises to them.

All the stories are impressive, and they cover a scattershot of types of characters, places, and time periods. Half the fun in reading them is guessing the era early on. The author offers up a bounty of descriptions and lines with real staying power. There should be a group of Jo Lloyd fans who gather at the Pub and spout insider quotations like "Have I ever told you about my least favourite camel?"

It's the author's range which makes this collection of stories so intriguing. None of the stories ever eclipses the first one in breadth or power, but each has a unique element setting it apart from the rest. For instance, "Your Magic Summer" maintains a pitch perfect level of snark, yet manages to elicit a certain poignancy that rings true. Each story rings a clear strong bell in a different register. I was sorry to get to the end.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book based almost exclusively on the cover and the title which are both beautiful. I do not read short story collections often, but I enjoyed reading this immensely. The writing style was lyrical. I was engrossed in each story as if it were a chapter of a larger book. My only wish for some of these stories is that they *were* a part of a larger book so I could have even more of the characters and more than just a snippet of the story. I have read short story collections before where there was nothing linking the stories together, but I have to admit that I sort of craved that in this case. I wondered if there was a common theme or thread that would bring all of the stories together by the end, but that wasn't the case. Nevertheless, this was a pleasure to read and I would absolutely recommend to anyone craving a serious and oftentimes moving collection of short stories.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Tin House for the ARC. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own!

[Glen Helfand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course the title of this story collection is ironic. Jo Lloyd's consistent cast is full of disappointment and trouble. They are stoic characters who endure bad parents, bad boyfriends, and the perilous seas. They yearn for something wonderful to happen (good luck with that). The best they do is find a little contentment. Lloyd has a way of dropping the reader into a setting, a milieu, and capably writes through various points of history, from 19th century to the contemporary. I found the latter to be more satisfying, though the 1951-set "Deep Shelter" is a rich tale of an avoidant parent. When the stories are set deep in mythical times, the writing is more showy, yet Lloyd's ability to inhabit these various settings is impressive (a more fitting word than wonderful for this collection).

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free electronic ARC of this collection of short stories from Netgalley, Jo Lloyd, and Tin House Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read "Something Wonderful" of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Jo Lloyd to friends and family. This is a book that is hard to put aside, featuring stories told with compassion and affection.

I love a good short story. Something Wonderful is a debut work, a collection of outstanding stories featuring folks you already know by one name or another. Jo Lloyd won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2019 and an O. Henry Prize in 2018. Her stories to quote the publisher, 'have appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and elsewhere.' I love that she is now available at our local book store on demand. I have her on my must-reads shelf. Thanks, Netgalley, for bringing her to my attention.

Pub date August 24, 2021
Reviewed on August 26, 2021, at Goodreads, Netgalley, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, Kobo, and GooglePlay.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the first book I DNF in years. It was not for me. However, I do appreciate the publisher sharing Lloyd’s hard work. I will donate this book to a Free Little Library. Hopefully, the right reader will pick it up and love it.

[Diana N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story collection has a nice variety. There were some stories that I really liked (The Ground the Deck, Deep Shelter, and Work), but the others were just OK or I lost interest.

The ones I didn't care for as much followed a style of breaking the story up into a flow of characters with a link to the previous character. This style has worked for longer stories, but since the excerpts were so short for each character I didn't get hooked into the overall story.

Overall, some of the good stories were good enough to read the entire collection.

[Asuka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most anthologies and short story collections, some are hits and some are misses. I find it rare to love every story in a collection, and more often than not, the good just ends up balancing out the bad, rather than overtaking it.

Which is why this book, as many other short story collection and anthologies, gets an average rating from me.

While I loved some, others drug on and felt like they took longer than needed to get through.

The stories are all about people in the search for something wonderful, but rarely are conclusions met. I personally don't mind open ended and vague ended stories, however I know some absolutely despise them. I like having the ability to interpret things and make up my own conclusions in a way as well.

Overall, this was a fun little book. It's not one of my favorites, and I don't think it's for everyone. I know a few people who I think may enjoy it a bit more than me, and I don't regret reading it. If you're curious, give it a try! It's not a long read, so what is there to lose?

[Tiena (tlovesallthebooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this review copy from Tin House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I am really disappointed in this short story collection. I was excited to read it and the quality of the writing itself is good. I cannot continue to read a book that contains such negative and disparaging remarks about the Appalachian and disability communities.

On page 42 characters refer to the Appalachian community as "hicks" and "incestuous Appalachian pinheads".

On page 60 the author describes a character with a disability (limp) as the "lurching, stiff legged variety, like a boat hit side-on by a swell".

Needless to say I stopped and will not read further.

I have enjoyed previous TinHouse books and I am appalled that they would publish such harmful words. I plan to email them and hope they, and this author, are more considerate in the future.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a wonderful review of this book. I kept in mind that the book is about a quest for lasting values, as the characters in these short stories question how we should treat our world, our work, our selves in both past and present. The characters range from cruel and self-involved to tender and/or lost, some take place in the far past, some in a likely present. "Ade/Cindy/Kurt/Me" was one of my favorites. "Work," and "Butterflies of the Balkans" were also wonderful. The only story I didn't like was a science fiction piece...too weird for me. Oddly, the collection is categorized as "science fiction" in our library. Totally incorrect. The stories are imagined...does that qualify them? Seems odd.

Isolating a passage doesn't really work in this collection. The stories are small universes...totally encapsulated. But I'm going to share the end of "Ade/Cindy/Kurt/Me" just because I love it so much, even disembodied from its beautiful story: don't scroll down if you dislike this kind of thing. I'm hoping it will just intrigue you...it doesn't give away plot, simply Jo Lloyd's genius.







"We are so accustomed to stories pulled out of time and set down for us to revisit as often as we want--books, films, TV, photographs, music. It can give us a false idea about what we're doing with our lives. Sometimes, I've been going about my day, dwelling on this or that, something insignificant and ephemeral, and been jolted out of my thoughts by a bird flying by or a face in the street, or a light reaching through the clouds and have found myself wanting to hit the back button. But the moment was gone, passed irretrievably into the past, and I hadn't even been paying proper attention while it was there."

Oh, thank you, Jo Lloyd.

[Doug Lewars · Rating 1 out of 5]

*** Possible Spoilers ***

I picked up this book by mistake. I was in a hurry, went to the Sci-Fi shelf in the library and simply grabbed a book. Only later did I realize it have been shelved incorrectly. Rather than make an extra trip I read it.

What some authors forget, is the whole purpose of writing something, be it a novel or short-story, is to tell a good story. It is not to fill the page with pointless twaddle. It is not to explore the hidden depths of the human psyche, and it is certainly, positively, absolutely, NOT to omit the ending.

If you enjoy pretentious drivel, you will probably enjoy this book; otherwise, move on.

[Laura Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are stories about people in between, traveling, searching for something wonderful in their lives but not ever reaching firm resolutions. The writing is lovely, and Lloyd easily transports readers from the 1800s to modern day. I didn’t always find myself thoroughly engaged; I find myself gravitating more these days toward interconnected story collections, and the pervasive feeling of disappointment experienced by the characters was exhausting to me, not in a good way.

I’m grateful to NetGalley and Tin House for the ARC.

[Chase Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the writing was technically strong — it’d be right at home in any reputable collection of bland short stories — I found it impossible to engage with any of the characters. As bits and pieces reminded me of writers whose stories I enjoy, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d be better served by putting this down and reading something else. Ultimately, I did.

I’m grateful to have won an advanced reading copy and be introduced to a new writer, and look forward to passing it along to another reader (via my free library box) who may better connect with the book.

[Emily Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars probably. A few of the short stories I would rate higher though! I like the variety of the stories. Sometimes I read short stories by the same author and find very little difference between the styling and prose and therefore the characters, but Jo Lloyd seemed to write about different people and different povs easily -- broad range of characters. it was very truthful. Some stories were more of a difficult read specifically in terms of prose and writing style, others were easier. Otherwise, I very much enjoyed this collection! Specific shoutout to "The Ground Deck" (Sally Rooney vibes tbh) and "The Invisible".

[Andy Oram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad characters make the best stories, I suppose, and especially when they are quirky, impulsive, and over-sensitive. Such people mostly populate the stories in this book, but the most beautiful story concerns two strong and capable women around the beginning of the twentieth century. Most of the stories are set in the past, perhaps not too far back but still different from today. Every descriptive phrase seems fresh and eye-opening in this age when it often seems that everything has already been written.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the last few years, I've been reading more short story collections. Probably for two reasons: It's a genre outside my norm and also outside the norm for my Book Club selections. It's also because I know if my reading time is going to be limited and tucking into a book of short stories can seem more accessible then. This has been on my bookshelf for quite a while. My 3-star rating is an average of the stories' appeal to me. The writing is terrific in all of them. Just a couple were not very interesting.

[Elaine Esan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you Goodreads Giveaways for this book. Something Wonderful was not wonderful for me. I managed to read six of the nine short stories. The first four, while well written, were so melancholy that I started to not want to even look at the book on a fine sun filled day. The last two stories were so abstract, that I honestly could not understand what Jo Lloyd was trying to say. I know that numerous readers liked this book, unfortunately I cannot say the same.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC in a Goodreads giveaway.

There is a lot of variety in these stories. Each of them transported me to a different time, place, or perspective, which was sometimes refreshing and sometimes jarring. I think it is best enjoyed one story at a time. The writing was vibrant and the characters were unique.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive range of stories here. It appears that Lloyd get inside just about any character's head and heart. She has a particular talent for stories with foreign or historical settings. She expands traditional notions of "historical fiction".

My favorites:

* My Bonny
* The Invisible
*Butterflies of the Balkans
* The Earth, Thy Great Exchequer, Ready Lies

[Niki Neary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love these stories! As I read, the beginning of each story seemed so monotone... I really only enjoyed the very end of each story. It seemed as though the story was too short and the characters had a difficult time shining through because of that.

[Kokie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories had interesting characters I was invested in, but for the most part this collection fell flat. There wasn't much of a plot and many characters seemed quietly dull. I'm disappointed this wasn't a better read.

[Lisa Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of nine short stories, each of which speaks to the wonder and wisdom of simply living. I particularly liked "The Invisible," where an old woman claims to be friends with the invisible elite in the town. I think I could be so eccentric.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s tough for me to review this one. The writing is beautiful. The author paints vivid pictures with her words. I didn’t connect with the stories as much as I had hoped though. But I have an appreciation for the worlds and landscapes the author created.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge fan of short stories, this book was lent to me by Jo Lloyd’s brother. I found they resonated more with me after I finished each one as opposed to these reading. Some the prose is just simply brilliant. Enjoyed them all.

[Nicole Forrester · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok - the stories were somewhat entertaining but I wanted them to link together in some way. Maybe they do and I missed it - I don't know if I would read something else like this.
The writing was easy to read though!

[Diane Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked how well this story was written . It has a lot of intense moments in this book .

[Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two stories were absolutely wonderful and magical, and then it just steadily devolved from there. Almost like two or three different people wrote them. It was a real struggle to actually finish, as they progressively got worse until it was just bland text.

[Emily Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

rtc

[Mary Tharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed all of the stories.

[Michelle Pulignani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such wonderful stories.