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Aphrodite's Hat
The stories in this collection by Salley Vickers all deal with psychological aspects of love - love given and withheld, love craved and lost, and love met and disappointed. Psychologically acute, sharply written in lucid and witty prose, these stories, set in Venice, Greece and Rome, take us into the complex geography of the human heart.
262 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2010
18 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Salley Vickers
37 books353 followersSalley Vickers was born in Liverpool, the home of her mother, and grew up as the child of parents in the British Communist Party. She won a state scholarship to St Paul’s Girl’s School and went on to read English at Newnham College Cambridge.
She has worked, variously, as a cleaner, a dancer, an artist’s model, a teacher of children with special needs, a university teacher of literature, and a psychoanalyst. Her first novel, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, became an international word-of-mouth bestseller. She now writes full time and lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between, art, literature, psychology and religion.
Her principal interests are opera, bird watching, dancing, and poetry. One of her father's favourite poets, W.B.Yeats, was responsible for her name Salley, (the Irish for 'willow') which comes from Yeats’s poem set to music by Benjamin Britten 'Down by the salley gardens'.
She has worked, variously, as a cleaner, a dancer, an artist’s model, a teacher of children with special needs, a university teacher of literature, and a psychoanalyst. Her first novel, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, became an international word-of-mouth bestseller. She now writes full time and lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between, art, literature, psychology and religion.
Her principal interests are opera, bird watching, dancing, and poetry. One of her father's favourite poets, W.B.Yeats, was responsible for her name Salley, (the Irish for 'willow') which comes from Yeats’s poem set to music by Benjamin Britten 'Down by the salley gardens'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 18, 2014
Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars.
The stories in this collection concern different aspects of love: usually love in relationships or marriages, but not exclusively. As in Vickers’ novels, the references to paintings and literature deepen the implicit meaning of a relationship: where it’s leading, or the way a character feels, whether or not he/she is aware of it. The result is a multi-layered, subtle narrative that contains more than what’s apparent on the surface.
It's true that most of the stories in this collection could be considered 'slight' in the sense that they don't have complex plots and in most cases are sketches of characters in their life situations. Some are indeed quite slight, in both length an substance. A few are longer and cover years in the life of a relationship.
However, even in the shortest of the stories, Vickers has the knack of observing the many ways in which people either face or avoid facing their own emotions and motives, and those of the people they're intimate with. She has an eye for the details that indicate what’s really happening beneath a relationship: both what we notice and what we don't let ourselves notice. (This isn’t surprising, considering that Vickers worked as a psychoanalyst for many years.) And she's able to draw the reader's attention to these details with few words and without fuss or fanfare. I think this might explain why some readers have found the collection disappointing. In some cases I felt that a story needed further fleshing out, but on the whole - and even in those cases - the power of the stories lie in what they don’t say as much as what they do. It could also be said that they are very ‘British’ in this regard; characters have that outwardly courteous, buttoned-up privacy that that seems to be the case in much writing set in middle class Britain.
I found the longest of the stories the most powerful in the collection. ‘The Buried Life’ - whose title tells you almost everything you need to know about it, except its ending - epitomises the essence of the collection, telling the story of a woman and her lover through her eyes, but cleverly and subtly revealing aspects of their characters and motivations, both the man’s and her own, that she is not yet aware of.
Some of the stories' endings are quite ambivalent and open to multiple interpretations. The reader is required to read between the lines, to negotiate the area between the words on the paper/screen and the implied, sometimes unconscious emotions or decisions of the characters. These stories are all about subtlety and implication, like an artist’s pen-and-ink sketch that emphasises some areas and leaves others mysterious and shaded. And despite what I’ve said about what’s required of the reader, I actually found the collection completely absorbing and very easy to read.
The stories in this collection concern different aspects of love: usually love in relationships or marriages, but not exclusively. As in Vickers’ novels, the references to paintings and literature deepen the implicit meaning of a relationship: where it’s leading, or the way a character feels, whether or not he/she is aware of it. The result is a multi-layered, subtle narrative that contains more than what’s apparent on the surface.
It's true that most of the stories in this collection could be considered 'slight' in the sense that they don't have complex plots and in most cases are sketches of characters in their life situations. Some are indeed quite slight, in both length an substance. A few are longer and cover years in the life of a relationship.
However, even in the shortest of the stories, Vickers has the knack of observing the many ways in which people either face or avoid facing their own emotions and motives, and those of the people they're intimate with. She has an eye for the details that indicate what’s really happening beneath a relationship: both what we notice and what we don't let ourselves notice. (This isn’t surprising, considering that Vickers worked as a psychoanalyst for many years.) And she's able to draw the reader's attention to these details with few words and without fuss or fanfare. I think this might explain why some readers have found the collection disappointing. In some cases I felt that a story needed further fleshing out, but on the whole - and even in those cases - the power of the stories lie in what they don’t say as much as what they do. It could also be said that they are very ‘British’ in this regard; characters have that outwardly courteous, buttoned-up privacy that that seems to be the case in much writing set in middle class Britain.
I found the longest of the stories the most powerful in the collection. ‘The Buried Life’ - whose title tells you almost everything you need to know about it, except its ending - epitomises the essence of the collection, telling the story of a woman and her lover through her eyes, but cleverly and subtly revealing aspects of their characters and motivations, both the man’s and her own, that she is not yet aware of.
Some of the stories' endings are quite ambivalent and open to multiple interpretations. The reader is required to read between the lines, to negotiate the area between the words on the paper/screen and the implied, sometimes unconscious emotions or decisions of the characters. These stories are all about subtlety and implication, like an artist’s pen-and-ink sketch that emphasises some areas and leaves others mysterious and shaded. And despite what I’ve said about what’s required of the reader, I actually found the collection completely absorbing and very easy to read.
November 18, 2012
Seventeen terrific short stories from one of my favourite authors. I read them all in one day, which probably isn't wise, but there will be time anon to revisit and retreasure.
Vickers is excellent at deftly setting up the world of a story, and conveying character and emotion. I had a couple of stumbles in the setups and a couple of dissatisfactions with the conclusions, but surely the wonder is that it was only a couple! It might even be churlish to mention them here, but the thing is this: Vickers isn't perfect, but she's damned close, and - no matter what - she will always make me think and feel.
Highly recommended.
Vickers is excellent at deftly setting up the world of a story, and conveying character and emotion. I had a couple of stumbles in the setups and a couple of dissatisfactions with the conclusions, but surely the wonder is that it was only a couple! It might even be churlish to mention them here, but the thing is this: Vickers isn't perfect, but she's damned close, and - no matter what - she will always make me think and feel.
Highly recommended.
May 30, 2022
A collection of short stories all with an underlying theme of love. There were a few stories I enjoyed, but most I found boring and repetitive.
September 9, 2025
'Well, here's a box of delights. A book of stories mostly about Love, and mostly about Love on its awaydays to Venice or Rome, in grand hotels and art galleries, love in a silk nightie with a chilled glass of something fizzy in its hand. The settings and the smart, articulate protagonists give them all a surface glamour, but underneath that surface, the emotional and technical range of this collection is both impressive and delightfully disorienting.
'A story that starts as an urbane account of a romantic assignation in Rome turns into a spooky "night visitation" tale that could have come from Irish folklore. A delicate depiction of the erotic charge between client and therapist turns into a drama about the aftermath of war.' From the review in The Guardian newspaper (see: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...)
I love short stories and more then happy to recommend this very story collection.
'A story that starts as an urbane account of a romantic assignation in Rome turns into a spooky "night visitation" tale that could have come from Irish folklore. A delicate depiction of the erotic charge between client and therapist turns into a drama about the aftermath of war.' From the review in The Guardian newspaper (see: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...)
I love short stories and more then happy to recommend this very story collection.
January 28, 2014
Well this book is like a surprise box of chocolates. Some are ok, some are not that tasty, and some are delightful. Most of the stories shows the psychological aspect of the human nature when it comes to love and bonding. Most of the stories have a hidden message or an unpredictable twist at the end. It was a delightful read.
July 31, 2020
I wanted to read about love , I didn’t want just one love story but love in many forms , and this book delivered on many levels. I particularly liked the riff on A Midsummer Night’s Dream , the death of Lionel, the title story - which taught me the lesson of looking at the cover before wildly googling- and Harriet’s father from ‘Pruning’. Actually I liked them all , all those characters created with very few wasted words, who crystallise into their stories, all that love in all its different forms and The Buried Life which I had to read twice.
A lovely collection.
A lovely collection.
June 2, 2011
The stories are witty, the people succinctly rendered in prose sharp as a new paring knife. Still, I found the pieces a little too wrapped up, delivered like little pastries for my delectation. Vickers understands irony and her work has affinities with William Trevor's but does not have the depth of vision that his short stories display in abundance.
December 17, 2013
Having just finished this book, I am still unsure how I feel about these short stories. I think it took me a while to get into the way in which she writes them because I found the second half of the book infinitely preferable to the first. My fault more than the authors I feel. I like the fact that all the books were based around the theme of love in all it's forms.
October 10, 2023
*this review is chaotic*
I know this makes no sense but some of these stories give you emotional sensation of washing your hands with posh thick pearlescent soap in a fancy bathroom. I know it makes no sense, but it is what pops to mind and when I think about the stories I enjoyed.
there were a number of times I just wanted to sit within certain moments of certain stories and the feeling it evoked. However it's hard to pinpoint what it was (narratives, descriptions etc). A combination of nuances I suppose.
Vickers writes ALOT about unavailable, closed off and pretty lame husbands. And whilst she writes less about canonical authors and ghosts she still writes about those last things too much (in my opinion)
One of the challenges I have with some modern literature, (and I feel aphrodite's hat is guilty of it) is that is can be a glutton to classical or artistic references. It's like, shouting out I AM CULTURED, I am a writer. And that's cool. However it's strange to me how it's a key component for many many characters and plot points in the book.
I felt that diversifying this a bit would have improved the stories for me. With the shame being that Vickers paints characters like Alice (who is 5 and has 5 year old interests.) beautifully.
Though I recognise this comment around references is slightly unfair, as I have noted this in many books, but this is the first time I have commented on it.
And, perhaps I should have known... It is called Aphrodites hat.
Between 3.5 and 4
I know this makes no sense but some of these stories give you emotional sensation of washing your hands with posh thick pearlescent soap in a fancy bathroom. I know it makes no sense, but it is what pops to mind and when I think about the stories I enjoyed.
there were a number of times I just wanted to sit within certain moments of certain stories and the feeling it evoked. However it's hard to pinpoint what it was (narratives, descriptions etc). A combination of nuances I suppose.
Vickers writes ALOT about unavailable, closed off and pretty lame husbands. And whilst she writes less about canonical authors and ghosts she still writes about those last things too much (in my opinion)
One of the challenges I have with some modern literature, (and I feel aphrodite's hat is guilty of it) is that is can be a glutton to classical or artistic references. It's like, shouting out I AM CULTURED, I am a writer. And that's cool. However it's strange to me how it's a key component for many many characters and plot points in the book.
I felt that diversifying this a bit would have improved the stories for me. With the shame being that Vickers paints characters like Alice (who is 5 and has 5 year old interests.) beautifully.
Though I recognise this comment around references is slightly unfair, as I have noted this in many books, but this is the first time I have commented on it.
And, perhaps I should have known... It is called Aphrodites hat.
Between 3.5 and 4
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2022
Well written but these stories fall flat. Short stories that feel like good starts to a novel or novella but feel unfinished, unnaturally rushed at the end or even pointless left as they are. Evocative imagery and some touching scenes which is why it gets 3 stars but the knack with writing good short stories is that you need to get the pacing right to pack everything in a shorter space which can be difficult for some adept novelists. In this instance, Vickers gives us emotional slow burns leading to rushed endings right on the last page - some action packed, some highly moralistic. For a couple (one is the Dragon Bones) it works ok, but the majority leave you wondering what the hell the point was. The one moral that did resonate with me is that people need to be way more open and honest with each other about their feelings... but that seemed to be repeated across most of the stories so became annoyingly preachy.
July 27, 2024
2/5
Vickers is a gifted author and a brilliant storyteller.
Short stories are incredibly difficult to write and she wrote them well.
Almost all the stories were about adultery. Though not in the usual sense, she writes them in uno-reverse: as if it's a good thing and apparently explains why people commit it through her short stories.
I picked the book up because it was about love. I was crestfallen that a good 80% of the stories are about adultery in one form or another.
There may be some love there for their SO and their current love interest but nothing justifies the deceit and cowardice that comes with it.
I wished she used her gift in better ways. The few stories that were not about adultery were incredible, she is able to create an entire world with a few sentences and the endings are often well-tied but thought-provoking.
I was thoroughly disappointed.
Vickers is a gifted author and a brilliant storyteller.
Short stories are incredibly difficult to write and she wrote them well.
Almost all the stories were about adultery. Though not in the usual sense, she writes them in uno-reverse: as if it's a good thing and apparently explains why people commit it through her short stories.
I picked the book up because it was about love. I was crestfallen that a good 80% of the stories are about adultery in one form or another.
There may be some love there for their SO and their current love interest but nothing justifies the deceit and cowardice that comes with it.
I wished she used her gift in better ways. The few stories that were not about adultery were incredible, she is able to create an entire world with a few sentences and the endings are often well-tied but thought-provoking.
I was thoroughly disappointed.
Read
May 4, 2019I did like those short stories on all kinds of love and I took my time reading them. However at a certain point I became quite tired with how all the heroes would simply pick up their bag and go to Rome on an impulse; or travel to St Ives just to visit Tate; how refreshing that at a certain point someone was not sure if their credit card will manage the most expensive restaurant in Venice...
That being said, Salley Vickers is a Jungian psychoanalyst and you can tell - most of the stories are visceral and profound, the characters drawn with minute psychological detail. I'd be sure to read some of her novels as well.
That being said, Salley Vickers is a Jungian psychoanalyst and you can tell - most of the stories are visceral and profound, the characters drawn with minute psychological detail. I'd be sure to read some of her novels as well.
April 26, 2020
I love Salley Vickers’ novels and I think I like these short stories almost more as they distil the beauty of her storytelling and characterisation.
As always, literature gives us an insight into the world we are living in. This from a story called Troubles: ‘All the troubles of the world stem from man’s inability to sit still in a room’, my grandmother used to say.
How true, how appropriate for lockdown.
As always, literature gives us an insight into the world we are living in. This from a story called Troubles: ‘All the troubles of the world stem from man’s inability to sit still in a room’, my grandmother used to say.
How true, how appropriate for lockdown.
August 2, 2023
I think Salley is one of our best writers; I know I’m in for a good read 👏! I was interested by her comment (in Acknowledgements) about how difficult short story writing is. I found the stories certainly drew one in and then keep reading. One story I’m not sure I ‘got’ but that was probably my fault. I hope Salley will continue this genre, as well as her novels; her writing could never be a waste of time!
April 14, 2018
I read this delightful book in one fell swoop yesterday. I had a little break for lunch because I was with my daughter and it would have been rude to prop it up against the octopus and the burrata, but I really couldn’t put it down. It’s the second book of short stories I’ve read recently and I’ve really enjoyed them, much against my expectations! More please.
August 27, 2019
I’ve read this author a couple of times before and always found her books quite enjoyable. However, these short stories seemed to me to just feel unfinished except the last one which I thoroughly enjoyed. An ideal book if you find it difficult to read long chapters and you can certainly dip into this whilst reading something else. I’m glad I’ve read it though.
August 27, 2021
This was an interesting collection of short stories, most of which were quiet boring but their underlying meanings were compelling. Although, the types of love though diverse in topic (e.g. familial love, affairs, the unrequited etc), the characters - those in love - were somewhat all the same either their lovers/partners. I enjoyed the last four stories were probably my favourite.
February 7, 2021
superb mix of stories
This is a superb mix of stories, I really enjoyed reading, sure to read again in the future too.
If you haven't read any Salley Vickers whether short stories or novels my advice is to dive in, you won't be disappointed
This is a superb mix of stories, I really enjoyed reading, sure to read again in the future too.
If you haven't read any Salley Vickers whether short stories or novels my advice is to dive in, you won't be disappointed
April 23, 2021
Such a wonderfully eclectic collection of short stories, all based around love & relationships. Pruning was very amusing as Harriet’s irascible father is tamed by the delightful Mrs Bottrell. Each story held my attention and this book was charming in every way.
November 2, 2021
I loved this collection of short stories by Salley Vickers. Observations on life and love all with a great sense of place and references to art or literature and some with surprising twists at the end. I am afraid that I was so engrossed on Saturday that I did not get my cooking done.
February 15, 2022
A collection of short stories with a great range of plots and characters, but a consistently high quality of writing. A pleasure to read, especially for the fact that at least twice I was lead to search out and read works from long ago after a reference in the stories.
January 19, 2025
Pleasant little book of short stories - nothing that resonated with me in terms of prose or narrative. Short stories are hard to write no doubt. 2 stars only because I can't really think of anything more to say - unfortunately a forgettable read.
January 23, 2025
Interesting collection of stories, impressively diverse though not overly memorable.
April 20, 2020
I'm a big fan of both Salley Vickers and short stories in general, but I felt like this one missed the mark a bit. There were a few stories in there that I liked, but I felt like this writing doesn't really lend itself to her style.
March 30, 2020
'...I wondered why it took us so long to discover we loved each other? Why did we not recognise this all those years ago, as students back in Newcastle, when there was no one to hurt or be hurt by this sense of the two of us being joined, irrevocably and eternally, in some inexplicable linking light? Why had we so botched it then? Failed to perceive the potential for delight in the other's bone and skin, in misdeeds divulged, in shared observations- starlings scattering across a greewn dawn London sky, the subtle discretion of a wrinkle in a Rembrandt portrait, the plangent note of a Schubert song, the correct use of an unusual word or phrase- in the lovely, inimitable- and, oh why is this the test of tests?- smell of the beloved?'
'Florid and smiling, Brenda Bottrell, the chairperson of the local gardening society, stood monumentally on the doorstep.'
'It takes a large heart not to take things personally.'
''I can't think what we find to say to each other,' she remarked one day when Jamie had called three times. 'We speak the things we woukd otherwise say only toourselves,' he replied.'
'Mostly one struggled to make oneself understood- if one struggled at all, and hadn't become accustomed to vague acquiescence in views one didn't really hold.'
'A prickle across Laura's skin warned her to drop the subject, but there is a demon inside us which urges us towards our own harm.'
''Do you think people leave a part of themselves behind in a place?' 'You mean like ghosts?' Sophie considered this. 'I mean, do you think we rub off on places the way places rub off on us?'
'When people tell us their stories, we allow our minds to wander a pace above, or below (I never quite know where to locate it) their drift. So we track what is being said as it were from a moving position. It struck me now, listening to what Jean Martin was saying, that this position is very like a helicopter's tracking flight. One has to fly in and out of some odd places in the mind.'
'Frank didn't ring when he returned but then she had particularly asked that he shouldn't. Nevertheless, very few of us really want even our most ardently phrased requests obeyed.'
'Florid and smiling, Brenda Bottrell, the chairperson of the local gardening society, stood monumentally on the doorstep.'
'It takes a large heart not to take things personally.'
''I can't think what we find to say to each other,' she remarked one day when Jamie had called three times. 'We speak the things we woukd otherwise say only toourselves,' he replied.'
'Mostly one struggled to make oneself understood- if one struggled at all, and hadn't become accustomed to vague acquiescence in views one didn't really hold.'
'A prickle across Laura's skin warned her to drop the subject, but there is a demon inside us which urges us towards our own harm.'
''Do you think people leave a part of themselves behind in a place?' 'You mean like ghosts?' Sophie considered this. 'I mean, do you think we rub off on places the way places rub off on us?'
'When people tell us their stories, we allow our minds to wander a pace above, or below (I never quite know where to locate it) their drift. So we track what is being said as it were from a moving position. It struck me now, listening to what Jean Martin was saying, that this position is very like a helicopter's tracking flight. One has to fly in and out of some odd places in the mind.'
'Frank didn't ring when he returned but then she had particularly asked that he shouldn't. Nevertheless, very few of us really want even our most ardently phrased requests obeyed.'
June 12, 2012
A wonderful collection of stories from the much-loved Salley Vickers. The stories are all about different aspects of love. Some, such as 'Mrs Radinsky', are about romantic love but some, like the title story 'Aphrodite's Hat', are about love affairs that fail or, as with 'The Green Bus From St Ives', marriages where the partners do not really know each other. Then there is the love of children, 'The Hawthorn Madonna', for example, or 'The Indian Child', about a fairy's mad passion for a mortal child
Excellent stories, I really enjoyed them and the only annoying thing was that I wanted them all to be books (except 'The Indian Child' which I didn't like very much). A great collection!
Excellent stories, I really enjoyed them and the only annoying thing was that I wanted them all to be books (except 'The Indian Child' which I didn't like very much). A great collection!
March 10, 2011
I'm not a great fan of short stories, much prefer novels. That said, I did enjoy these engaging stories. My favourite was The Deal, about a young girl who wants a cat in spite of her parents' opposition, and persuades the elderly man who has the garden allotment next to her mother's to find one for her. The stories had interesting characters and settings but like many/most short stories gave you only a glimpse at relationships and left unanswered questions. And that is probably why I prefer novels! And I have enjoyed Vickers' novels.
February 4, 2012
The theme running through this book of short stories is love, but seen from many different angles. I found each of these stories entertaining and especially liked the one about Keats. However, it is difficult to rate the book as each tale needs rating individually.
Although short stories are not my thing, when life gets too hectic for a full-length novel they fit the bill perfectly. Each story will wait for the next few precious moments of reading time without the characters or the plot vanishing between visits to the bookshelf.
Although short stories are not my thing, when life gets too hectic for a full-length novel they fit the bill perfectly. Each story will wait for the next few precious moments of reading time without the characters or the plot vanishing between visits to the bookshelf.
March 28, 2011
Salley Vickers makes the point that it is hard for writers who are primarily novelists to write short stories. This collection is somewhat uneven in that while I found some of the stories to be very satisfying, others just somehow fell flat. On the whole I enjoyed the book and will continue to read this author.
February 17, 2012
A collection of short stories by Salley Vickers all deal with psychological aspects of love: love given and withheld, love craved and lost, love met and disappointed; the differing shades of loves between friends, between parents and children, between children and other adults; love even, in one case, for a pet. A good book to have next to your bed if you do not want to read a long story....
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews