Author picture

Chris Womersley

Author of Bereft

9+ Works 440 Members 25 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the name: Chris Womersley

Works by Chris Womersley

Bereft (2010) 205 copies
City of Crows (2017) 105 copies
Cairo (2013) 56 copies
The Low Road (2007) 49 copies
The Diplomat (2022) 7 copies
The Diplomat 3 copies

Associated Works

The Best Australian Stories 2006 (2006) — Contributor — 31 copies
The Best Australian Stories 2010 (2010) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Best Australian Stories 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Best Australian Stories 2012 (2012) — Contributor — 15 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

This is a bleak novel about ex-con Lee, who has stolen a bag full of money and been shot in the process. He lands at a seedy hotel where disgraced doctor Wild is also staying, whom the motel owner browbeats into looking after Lee.

Wild and Lee leave and go on the run, each from his own demons. They find themselves in a downward spiral of increased desperation. Meanwhile, the implacable Josef is told to hunt Lee down and retrieve the money.

Womersley writes really well but the pace of this novel drags for most of it. It picks up a bit in the final act, which redeems it somewhat, but overall I found this a very dark story, maybe in the vein of Cormac McCarthy.… (more)
 
Flagged
gjky | 4 other reviews | Apr 9, 2023 |
It’s was ok, wanted to rush to the end. Want to know what happens next. Bits seemed missing.
 
Flagged
vdt_melbourne | Oct 9, 2022 |
More from this author, please.
 
Flagged
auldhouse | 3 other reviews | Sep 30, 2021 |
I don't read many short story collections. However, when an advance copy of Chris Womersley's first collection of short stories arrived bringing promise of 'twenty macabre and deliciously enjoyable tales', I decided to give it a go.

The majority of the stories in A Lovely and Terrible Thing were told in first person, and included characters of both sexes and a variety of ages, family demographics and socio-economic situations. Living in Melbourne I enjoyed the references to my city within the stories and recognised many of the settings.

By far my favourite of the collection was The Deep End. It was just such a brilliant short story and everything I love about the genre. It was tense with a sense of foreboding and had a terrific surprise ending I did NOT see coming.

On the flip side though, Crying Wolf had such a devastating ending as to make me cross. The story was building to a climax and instead of giving the two main characters an other-worldly mind blowing ending, Womersley tears it away from the reader at the very last moment by way of a selfish act by one of the characters.

Perhaps this was done in an effort to show how easily lost opportunities can plague our lives and how close we can be to life changing events without the slightest hint of their existence or magnitude. Either way, I felt thoroughly robbed by the ending.

The other stories in the collection didn't really illicit much of a reader response from me and felt middle of the road. Perhaps this means short story collections aren't my thing or I need to read more of them.

In summary, A lovely and Terrible Thing by Chris Womersley contained one outstanding short story, one infuriating one and eighteen others that were a solid read.

See my full review here: https://www.carpelibrum.net/2019/05/review-lovely-and-terrible-thing-by-Chris-Wo... including my thoughts on short story collections in general.

* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia *
… (more)
 
Flagged
Carpe_Librum | May 3, 2019 |

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
9
Also by
4
Members
440
Popularity
#55,641
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
25
ISBNs
77
Languages
3

Charts & Graphs