Status Updates From The Penguin Book of Modern ...

Elizabeth Jane Howard - Summer Picnic -so funny, and so much life in an extremely short story - really great descriptions of kids and their behaviours - must read more EJH
Patricia Ferguson - Indefinite Nights - completely new to me author - she has 7 novels and a short story collection - one to be rescued. Gritty realism plus analysis of nurse/patient dynamics.

A.S. Byatt's story - very moving.
Muriel Spark - waspy - as always
Georgina Hammick - author completely new to me - absolutely loved it.
Jane Gardam - reminds me to read more by her - so accurate on grief.

A really miserable story - from the perspective of a 9 year old who knows his mother is dying. He expects to be told of her death any day. The story is unique in how well Bowen conveys the child's anxiety - he's afraid he will break down when told and that's even worse than the death itself - but the story is misery - on a page.
The Visitor - by Elizabeth Bowen, 1980 from Collected Stories.

Margaret Drabble - Hassan's Tower. Set in Morocco - couple on honeymoon - husband doesn't like his new wife. It's an early work - 1966 - and not so good as the first three stories. A lot of interiority type narrative - husband's thoughts - he does have a revelation - but it's a typical judgemental, condescending attitude. I'm not sure he even deserves that insight !! Cynical me.

So good - Clare Boylan "Some Retired Ladies on a Tour" - a story about loneliness.
All three stories - I know the writers - their short stories just enthuse and inspire me to buy more of their work.
Taylor, Mackay and Boylan - such good writers!!

Slaves to the Mushroom - Shena McKay - another good one. Mckay causes us to question our acceptance of the narrator's point of view. We trust Sylvia's narration and her moral stance - and then she does something right at the end. We realise that the tedious work leaves no room for any kind of moral superiority.

The Devastating Boys - very good - very enjoyable. Taylor captures the husband/wife tensions and the reality of small boys - the characters of the children are v well done.

Picked this up at a random shop in dublin i like reading a story before bed