Is there any contemporary writer as good as Keegan at combining the earthy and the ethereal? I doubt it. I have read the first four stories (or listened to) in this collection and all manage to do this. First is the writer who is given a cottage to work in (and then doesn't) at least according to the priest who chastises her for living in Heinrich Boll's cottage and not taking the gift seriously. Or the priest who watches the woman he didn't marry get married and finds solace in nature. Or the girl leaving Ireland and the memories of her father's abuse behind. Many of these are online now and many are read aloud. She certainly rose to the top quickly and based on her great talent.
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I will seek her work out...given her globetrotting from a young age (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Keegan), one can wonder how autobiographical this set of stories is...
This is her second collection.
Martin Edwards post for today is relevant!
James Reasoner's post, part of his weekend series, is worth the look:
https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2023/04/saturday-morning-western-pulp-revisited.html
And I got one pretty far along at an indecent early rather than late hour, so offer that. Or are they one and the same?
https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2023/04/short-story-wednesday-best-detective.html
Thanks for the listings, any you choose.
Yes, I agree on Keegan, a very good writer. I have read three of her books and have this one on hold.
This week I'm reading Bill Pronzini's collection of his early SF shorts, HIGH CONCEPTS, which George reviewed a few days ago. As always with Pronzini, the collection is definitely worth reading. Several were written with longtime friend and collaborator Barry Malzberg.
Got the latest Crippen & Landru publication yesterday, A QUESTIONABLE DEATH and Other Historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries by Edith Maxwell. These are set in Massachusetts in the late 1880s. I've never read any of the books in this series (there were seven), or any of the other five series she has written, but this is a good place to start as it is all different from my usual reading - character, setting, time period, theme.
We just happen to be reading her short novel Foster for my reading group, although I haven't really started it yet, except for reading the opening page.
Patti--indeed her second, and I wonder if that allowed for more somewhat autobiographical approach/incorporation than earlier stories might...
Adored FOSTER and wished I had caught the film of it entitled THE QUIET GIRL.
Good point, Todd. This is very much more like the novellas.
I have never read Maxwell but the concept for this series. is interesting.
I have both SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE and ANTARCTICA in ebook format, and will probably get Foster and this one and FOSTER in that format also. I just need to get to one of them soon.
Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing The Quiet Girl at some point, though probably not directly after reading the book.
I am sorry I missed seeing it at a theater but it came and went so quickly. SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE is my favorite so far. But these short stories are so strong. I think she may be the strongest writer I have read in some years.
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