All the Beloved Ghosts

One of the best collections of short stories I've read in some time. Unlimited by continent or age, the protagonists consider questions of time, love and jihad. The author managed to make me smile and well up within a few pages. With a young man caught up in the London riots, I hoped he would find his new girlfriend, whilst in another tale Chekhovian meta-narrative disappeared a dog for two would-be philanderers. A prospective jihadi finds Joy (capitalisation deliberate) on Brighton pier instead of taking a flight to Turkey. In Yalta, Chekhov is followed whilst in turn of the century Canada,a young woman risks dancing with a member of the band.
The kind of book that makes you go searching for an author's back catalogue.
This was a show more Netgalley ARC. show less

3.5 Life, death and aging are the common themes. The prose is gorgeous, elegant and is one of the strong point in these stories, showcasing a wide range of viewpoints. The authors own connection to her subject is explored in two stories, Sylvia wears pink the Underworld, referring of course to Sylvia Plath and Dreaming Diana:twelve frames. Of those two the Princess Diana was easier to understand and the one I liked best.

In one story a man remembers certain events in his life while waiting for his new heart to be delivered. Loved the first story, The Thaw, was probably my favorite story in this collection. The author explores the influence of Chekhow on her own short stories by featuring four shorts pertaing to him.

All in all a good show more solid collection, some stories easier to relate to then others, so a mixed effort in my mind. As I said though reading this just for the prose was worthwhile. show less

A writer of great descriptive power says the blurb on the front. Okay. Description. Except I don't really enjoy reading description. Description reads heavy and unnecessary. From the name of one of the stories -- Sylvia Wears Pink in the Underworld -- I knew immediately it would be about Sylvia Plath, so much description is extraneous. A story with Diana in the title would be about Princess Diana. I think the titles do more than the stories, since they are short and snappy. The stories are pretty, but as I said, heavy. There's no overall theme, except when there is (which we'll say is beloved ghosts, like Diana and Sylvia and a great aunt who drowned in Cape Breton and Chekov and Angelica Garnett), and then the stories that don't fit in show more with this theme (like In Praise of Radical Fish) are, like all the description, extraneous.

I liked the bits I liked. But then most of it is going to fade away like an empty spirit.

All The Beloved Ghosts by Alison MacLeod went on sale May 30, 2017.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less