London Road Linked Stories Volume 1

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.

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 show more 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. show less

I won this ebook from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

The first few sentences of this book made me think "oh no, I really can't take any more depressing reading"! I went on reading, however, because I liked the writing style. Within the first page I was drawn in, curious to know where the story went, and how the character got where she was ...

I found the stories very evocative. The tales are set in London, a city I have never been so lucky as to visit, and I've never been these situations. Yet I felt as though I were hearing tales about people who had been important to me in other times, brought back to mind by a mutual friend with an update.

More than anything else, I feel they quietly celebrate the human connection. I'm glad to have show more been motivated to read them, and look forward to seeing her publish more. show less

This book contains linked short stories revolving around a half-way house in London.
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.

London Road: Linked Stories, Vol. 1 by Tessa Smith McGovern is more than a collection of short stories; it is a collection of stories about a group of women. Their lives are linked by the boarding house in London where they live and Nora, the woman who owns it.

The collection starts with Janice being released from prison. She arrives at the boarding house and is greeted by the land lady Nora. Nora is kind and supportive but lives in her own fantasy and writes romance novels. She is also obsessed with the Queen. Distracted by other things, she completely forgets to collect her daughter, Anna, from netball.

Mandy is on probation after being caught for shop lifting. She is tempted to go back to her old ways.

Bitty, is waiting in a restaurant show more for her boyfriend, expecting him to break up with her. Her roommate, Isobel, is having psychological problems as well as a difficult relationship with her mother who is an unsuccessful actress.

My summary of the characters makes the book sound a bit disjointed but the way Tessa Smith McGovern writes the stories they move smoothly from one to the next. Despite the brevity, the reader becomes intimately drawn in to their lives. So much so that at times I felt I was eavesdropping on a private conversation or even spying on a person’s private struggle.

I would love to see a follow up book with these characters and discover how they cope with their inner demons and troubled relationships.

I received this book in exchanged for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyable, I give London Road 4*

This review is also available on my website www.pam.id.au show less

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 don't normally read short stories, so it took me a few chapters to understand the dynamic of a short story. London Road: Linked Stories brings 7 characters together. They are linked by their residence at a boarding house run by Nora. They are linked by a hot summer day in which each character struggles to come to terms with their hang ups and inadequacies. For me Nora was the key character. While living in a fantasy world of her own, she was able to emerge to provide empathy and compassion for the other boarders. I liked the book.