Minigrooves

A wonderful collection of short stories

With anthologies it’s often customary to state that there’s ‘something for everyone’, but in this case I think it’s fair to say that the reader looking for a mindless, easy read will be disappointed. They’re quick stories, but you can’t read them with your brain switched off — and that’s a good thing.

The imagery is powerful and the writing is vibrant, immediate, with an intense focus on a character or a situation, sometimes a theme – sometimes all three within a single story. The ‘minigrooves’ are concentrated and efficient. There’s a sense that the precise language was very carefully selected, and I loved how the word choice and the story often depended on each other to create a specific effect. It sits on the edge of poetry.

Where appropriate, the language is completely transparent and the story permeates directly into the reader’s mind, but sometimes it prompts slower reading and more thoughtful interpretation. This is always for a reason. Again there’s that sense of meticulously crafted writing, of deliberateness and enormous skill in painting these short sketches of language and narrative.

So what are the stories actually about? The subjects vary: amnesia, nostalgia, photographs found discarded, writing; sometimes just a meaningful moment or a reflection on an incident. My favourite story is ‘The adventure of the time-trap’, which features Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson. It’s beautiful and ingenious, and every fan of Sherlock Holmes will love it.

If you enjoy reading stories that will mean something to you and challenge you, I can heartily recommend this volume of Minigrooves.

(Disclaimer: the author sent me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)