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S'està carregant… London Road Linked Stories Volume 1de Tessa Smith McGovern
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. Aquesta ressenya s'ha escrit per al programa Donatius de membres de LibraryThing. I'm not always keen on reading short stories. Usually if they are good they end too soon for my liking. In all the other cases I don't get them, find them weird or just not interesting enough. Reading this collection of linked stories was a whole new experience. Although the book is quite short it offers a lot to the reader. Each story focuses on one particular character but since all stories take place on the same day and the characters are somehow connected with each other the reader gets a three-dimensional picture of the boarding house and its occupants. Of course that also means that for my liking it does end too soon. I would love to learn more about Janice, Sandy and Aiden. I would definitely read a whole novel about just them or even the boarding house. Since Tessa Smith McGovern seems to have specialized on short stories I assume that won't happen anytime soon. But maybe she'll publish more stories about the boarding house.Another aspect that I liked about the book was the part in the end in which the author explained how and where she got the inspiration for the boarding house and the characters. That was a very interesting and personal insight into her life. Since I often wonder about how much the authors' experiences reflect in their stories that part was truly appreciated. Aquesta ressenya s'ha escrit per al programa Donatius de membres de LibraryThing. The book is collection of short stories which tell the stories of six people with very different past but they all end up in the same house. I rarely read short stories so I’m not that familiar with them. I guess this is good because it’s was easy to surprise me with the fact how good you met someone based on the story with less than 2000 words. The characters are likeable although most of us wouldn’t want to interact with them. Except Nora, she is great! This book is great if you have problems with the empathy because it’s easy to correlate with characters and their thoughts. Aquesta ressenya s'ha escrit per al programa Donatius de membres de LibraryThing. I received this book through Library Thing member giveaway. The book is an excellent read. Each chapter highlights a different woman's story and gives the reader a glimpse into their life. We get to see what they are thinking and how they got to be where they are. Each chapter is a page turner and leaves you wanting to learn a little more about each individual. Overall, I highly recommend this book. Aquesta ressenya s'ha escrit per al programa Donatius de membres de LibraryThing. This little book starts with Janice, recently released from prison for manslaughter with no plans and no friends. She's heard vaguely about a boarding house that will take in people like her, so she heads that way. It turn out to be a lucky break.All these stories are short, just little glimpses into one day of the life of the residents of the London Road boarding house. But together, those glimpses add up to a complex picture. I quite liked this book and I would love to read more by this author.
Like other reviews, it took a little time to start seeing where the author was going with these but once that had been figured out, these little snapshots were quite engaging and sometimes endearing. She has a good descriptive style as well, bringing the various characters to life. And I did like the choice of perspective, doing each story as the point of view of one of each of the people in the house. I would definitely read this author again. I received a copy of this book from LibaryThing.com in exchange for an honest review. Premis
GOLD MEDAL WINNER 2012 eLIT AWARDS, AMAZON BEST-SELLERPraise for LONDON ROAD: LINKED STORIES: "...reminiscent of the writer who appears in one of the stories: the great Katherine Mansfield." -Cynthia Rogerson, winner, V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize for a Short Story, UK KIRKUS RECOMMENDED REVIEW: "In seven short stories, residents of a London boardinghouse reach moments of clarity. On London Road, lined with scruffy shops, stands No. 17, a detached red-brick Victorian that's been turned into a boardinghouse. Its residents tend toward hard luck and desperation: Janice is just out of prison; Mandy is on probation; Bitty has a good education, but is scarred by her mother's frequent abandonments; and Isobel is mentally unstable. Nora, the landlady, writes romance novels but has experienced little romance herself, and her daughter, Anna, is disgusted by Isobel's outbursts.Their interconnected stories take place on a day of unusually hot weather, and focus on one resident at a time, with Janice's story told in two parts. In each, characters have a chance to make a leap of faith in other people, or in the future. In "The Walls of Buckingham Palace," for example, Nora--who adores the queen--reflects on an uneasy encounter with Len, her local pub's new landlord, who drank too much and frightened her off: "But every night since, her sleep had been disturbed by longings she thought had long since been vanquished." It takes queenlike courage for her to return to the pub, where she finds that Len is apologetic, sincere, and kind. Pointing to a framed photograph of the queen, he remarks, "You remind me of her, you do"; nothing, of course, could better gain her trust and win her over.Though spare and fast-paced, McGovern's (Cocktails for Book Lovers, 2014, etc.) tales evoke entire biographies. She focuses on illuminative details and subtle, turning-point moments, as when Mandy, a young woman on probation, reacts to her mandatory book group's reading of Katherine Mansfield's 1922 short story "The Garden Party." It stokes her resentment, as she doesn't even know if people still give garden parties. Mandy makes plans to shoplift again, but something about the book group leader's hopefulness and the invitation to give her honest opinion sparks her determination to win--maybe a literary argument, or maybe more chocolate wafers. Tales with subtle, positive but never saccharine transformations that feel fully earned."EXCERPT: WHEN JANICE BAILEY WALKEDThe day Janice Bailey was released from prison was the hottest Friday on record in England. Even at eight thirty in the morning, heat waves rippled across yellow and brown fields and, as Janice walked away from the metallic clank of the closing door of Chorley Prison, her white pumps stuck to the black top, and birds sat silently in the trees.She paused, remembering what she had been told: 'Turn left outside the gate and keep going for twenty minutes until you come to the train station.' The prison was off the bus route, so if no-one met you, you had to walk to the station in Chorley and catch a train to - where? London, Janice supposed. She hadn't made any plans. What was the point? She was a fifty seven year old convicted criminal with no family - her parents were both dead and she'd never had children - and no prospect of a job. Who would want to hire her? She'd tried to ignore her release day, creeping nearer, because, if she had a choice, she would rather stay in prison.Janice swung the Tesco's carrier bag over her shoulder and started walking. The bag contained everything she brought with her five years ago: three £20 notes, her building society passbook which now held £1,113.23 (interest at 2%), a soft denim purse complete with Shining Red lipstick and a regular tampon plus keys to a flat she no longer rented and a photograph of a man she no longer loved. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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The people in it are ... interesting, to say the least. I liked to see the different viewpoints people had on the same events.
Sometimes the stories are scary, you do not now what people are going to do.
There is a sadness throughout the book. And hope.
I liked it. ( )