Encounters

The art of writing a short story is very different than that of a full novel and I have often found that full-length novelists' attempts at short stories can be disappointing. However, "Encounters" is a collection of 44 of Barbara Erskine's stories and it shows that she is also the master of this form of writing. With so many stories you might find a lack of variety but that's not the case. Most of them are modern day stories of people's lives and a small vignette into some event in that life. A few have paranormal aspects, most (but not all) have a romance theme, all are well written and interesting. I found an overall theme which seemed to be the fragility of marriage and relationships, usually because of a "love at first sight" moment by one of the partners and I felt many of the stories had a rather pessimistic view of human fidelity. However there was also the "happy ever after" feeling in many of these stories which made them enjoyable, even if some of the premises on which to base this feeling were rather shaky. This isn't a book to read right through (as I attempted to do). It's better to just pick it up and read a couple of stories now and again - ideal for a bus journey or a waiting room as the stories are generally fairly short. It's a collection to recommend, though, because of its variety and yet its underlying theme of the importance of human relationships.

I am a huge fan of everything Barbara Erskine has written and when I saw this book on the shelf, I snatched it up without even reading the description of the book. So you can imagine my disappointment when I realized that it was actually a collection of 40 short stories. My philosophy is that if its a good story - the longer the better! Some of these stories are less than 10 pages!However, I will admit they display Erskine at her best. Every story is orignal in plot and character and manages to hook you. She infuses each story with such feeling - romance, fear, confusion - depending on the theme of the tale. If you are a fan of this author, this collection will keep you going until her next novel appears (soon, I hope!). If you haven't read any of her stories yet, make sure you pick up one of her full-length novels - you'll love it!