gorecki's review
4.0
These past couple of weeks, I have been dancing around Ireland and Hungary with Wendy Erskine and her latest collection Dance Move. First I took it around Kerry and Dingle, then on a weekend in Hungary. And wow were there some surprise moves hidden in it!
Wendy Erskine has an unquestionable talent in concentrating a whole town or a country into a single story, along with all its hidden nuances and cultural meanings. Not just that, she is able to pack a historical event into the lives of people in a town and then throw all of that into a story. And you’ll feel every bit of it. It’s exactly this ability she has of conveying emotions and histories in just a few sentences that keeps drawing me to her stories and makes me expect each next collection of hers impatiently.
Erskine’s writing is clear and precise, without any tricks or gimmicks. Her language doesn’t obscure or unveil. Her words just add up and build a story as if building a wall, layer by layer, as you stand and watch it all grow. Her stories draw you in and you can’t stop reading until you get so close to what she’s built that you scrape your nose against it. In a good way!
For me, Wendy Erskine is the new voice of Northern Ireland and I can’t wait for her next collection!
Personal favourites: Mathematics, His Mother, Nostalgie, Memento Mori
Wendy Erskine has an unquestionable talent in concentrating a whole town or a country into a single story, along with all its hidden nuances and cultural meanings. Not just that, she is able to pack a historical event into the lives of people in a town and then throw all of that into a story. And you’ll feel every bit of it. It’s exactly this ability she has of conveying emotions and histories in just a few sentences that keeps drawing me to her stories and makes me expect each next collection of hers impatiently.
Erskine’s writing is clear and precise, without any tricks or gimmicks. Her language doesn’t obscure or unveil. Her words just add up and build a story as if building a wall, layer by layer, as you stand and watch it all grow. Her stories draw you in and you can’t stop reading until you get so close to what she’s built that you scrape your nose against it. In a good way!
For me, Wendy Erskine is the new voice of Northern Ireland and I can’t wait for her next collection!
Personal favourites: Mathematics, His Mother, Nostalgie, Memento Mori
ursovrmne's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
short stories have never particularly stood out to me, and i think ive only ever read one other collection, earlier this year. i picked this up as it was on sale and i had zero impressions of what it was going to be like. i loved this book so much. Erskine creates such depth in few pages, but somehow also leaves you satisfied at the end of each one. i was drawn into almost all of these stories and could have gone for a whole book of anyone of the stories, but their charm was in the brevity. superb writing and absolutely a stand out book of my year. my favourite story was Memento Mori - incredibly well done. Cell was also a favourite, my least fav probably either the first or last story of the collection. this is the longest review ive ever written i think. i did also read this 24 hours. i will 100% re-read this collection.
almost frustratingly good, im sad its over!
almost frustratingly good, im sad its over!
thejameswhitman's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sebastian_arias_97's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
rebeccagcook18's review
1.5
Honestly I just didn't realise this was short stories when I bought this so imagine my surprise when I opened this on the train got 3 "chapters" in and realised I wasn't just too stupid to piece the plot together they were just separate stories.
Short stories aren't really for me so didn't enjoy this massively.
Short stories aren't really for me so didn't enjoy this massively.
admacg's review
5.0
I was a huge fan of Wendy Erskine’s previous short story collection ‘Sweet home’ so have been eagerly anticipating this release for a while. It doesn’t disappoint.
There’s a wonderful flow to each of the stories, so much so that I had to restrict myself to one at a time, to make them last that bit more. The dialogue is so wonderfully crisp and it feels like you have you have been parachuted into the lives of the characters.
What is it that Wendy Erskine does so well? In each story we seem to be heading somewhere in the characters past, somewhere that explains their current thoughts, actions or emotions a bit better. They all seem so real - you can go from laughter, to tears and the ridiculous within a few pages. All of lifes rich tapestry is here.
Loneliness is certainly a factor in some of the characters lives, from the cleaner who makes a shocking discovery whilst working for a shady employer in ‘Mathematics’ to the grief of the mother taking down the missing posters of her son in ‘His mother.’ There’s also grief in the emotional ‘Momento Mori’, one of my favourites, ( ‘She’d never really liked cut flowers. They sucked the water greedily from the vase but they knew they were on the way out, dying as everyone admired their beauty) which also comes with a satisfying punch in the mouth delivered. I think the author makes a Hitchcock style cameo here too.
There’s also a creeping sense of unease in ‘Bildungsroman’ about a teenage boy going to lodge with a stranger, and ‘Max and Gloria’ about an academic going on a road trip with a care home worker.
The wonderfully titled ‘Secrets Bonita Beach Krystal Cancun’ features a trip to Portrush that set off a few memories of a rainy afternoon of my own, whilst ‘Nostalgie’ about a faded singer went a direction I didn’t expect. (“He swallows the vocals, embarrassed and impatient to be done, looking with envy at that balloon, aloof, where the wall meets the ceiling.’) I loved the local vernacular when it popped up and some of the settings could only be in the north of Ireland.
One of the most unsettling stories for me was the longest one, ‘Cell’, I think because it took me a while to work out what was happening. When I did, it left me more uneasy; it’s all about feeling lonely and joining a group and falling under their spell, with disastrous consequences. The title story is also another favourite, the mother struggling with her daughter getting older as well as realising she’s probably going to be becoming a carer in her later years.
A number of times whilst reading these stories I remembered the old adage about not to be judging a person before walking a mile in their shoes. With small details, Wendy Erskine does a fine job of writing these characters in a way that you don’t sit in judgement on them, as their thoughts and feelings seem all too real. I can’t recommend this collection or the previous 'Sweet Home' enough.
Review here
There’s a wonderful flow to each of the stories, so much so that I had to restrict myself to one at a time, to make them last that bit more. The dialogue is so wonderfully crisp and it feels like you have you have been parachuted into the lives of the characters.
What is it that Wendy Erskine does so well? In each story we seem to be heading somewhere in the characters past, somewhere that explains their current thoughts, actions or emotions a bit better. They all seem so real - you can go from laughter, to tears and the ridiculous within a few pages. All of lifes rich tapestry is here.
Loneliness is certainly a factor in some of the characters lives, from the cleaner who makes a shocking discovery whilst working for a shady employer in ‘Mathematics’ to the grief of the mother taking down the missing posters of her son in ‘His mother.’ There’s also grief in the emotional ‘Momento Mori’, one of my favourites, ( ‘She’d never really liked cut flowers. They sucked the water greedily from the vase but they knew they were on the way out, dying as everyone admired their beauty) which also comes with a satisfying punch in the mouth delivered. I think the author makes a Hitchcock style cameo here too.
There’s also a creeping sense of unease in ‘Bildungsroman’ about a teenage boy going to lodge with a stranger, and ‘Max and Gloria’ about an academic going on a road trip with a care home worker.
The wonderfully titled ‘Secrets Bonita Beach Krystal Cancun’ features a trip to Portrush that set off a few memories of a rainy afternoon of my own, whilst ‘Nostalgie’ about a faded singer went a direction I didn’t expect. (“He swallows the vocals, embarrassed and impatient to be done, looking with envy at that balloon, aloof, where the wall meets the ceiling.’) I loved the local vernacular when it popped up and some of the settings could only be in the north of Ireland.
One of the most unsettling stories for me was the longest one, ‘Cell’, I think because it took me a while to work out what was happening. When I did, it left me more uneasy; it’s all about feeling lonely and joining a group and falling under their spell, with disastrous consequences. The title story is also another favourite, the mother struggling with her daughter getting older as well as realising she’s probably going to be becoming a carer in her later years.
A number of times whilst reading these stories I remembered the old adage about not to be judging a person before walking a mile in their shoes. With small details, Wendy Erskine does a fine job of writing these characters in a way that you don’t sit in judgement on them, as their thoughts and feelings seem all too real. I can’t recommend this collection or the previous 'Sweet Home' enough.
Review here
carmel_'s review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
asfortheeggs's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this collection. I was drawn in by the characters, and fully engaged in each small act of bravery, empathy or rebellion.