Two very favourable reviews of ‘Live show, Drink Included’ came out this month (May 2019). Writing in the Glasgow Review of Books, Lynda Wardle says: ‘the stories open with characters jogging away on the treadmill of life, and then—deliciously for us—something is tweaked;’ […]’Her descriptions catch both the sense of twenty-first century living and the nuances of emotion that give these stories their humanity.’ […] ‘the story that fittingly closes the collection, ‘Into the Valley’, stands above the others in its refusal to deliver [a] neat punchline. This collection should be bought and shared for all the pieces, but most especially for this last one.’ Full Review here.
Reviewing the book on the US Amazon site, writer and translator Olga Núñez Miret, says: ‘This is a great collection of short stories. The author has a talent for being able to create a vivid background for her stories and she also gives us a good insight into who her characters are and what makes them tick. I am mostly a reader of novels, and I am aware that sometimes, even after reading a whole novel we still don’t have a clear sense of who these characters are, so this is a skill I particularly appreciate. The stories are beautifully observed; we get to see what is going on through the heads of the characters and also the situation that develops around them.’ And: ‘I was impressed by the quality of the collection and this is an author I intend to keep a close eye on in the future.’ This review has been reblogged by many US bloggers so I’m hoping that will generate sales in the States. Full review here.
Vicky Grut 