Are You She? (Tindal Street Press Showcases) [Paperback]

Myra Connell's HERO is a moving evocation of the aftermath of the events of September 11th 2001. Told through two voices, Connell shows the helpless feelings of a mother towards her son who emerged from the rubble of the fallen towers and those of the son, clearing Ground Zero and how he is coping, or not, with the task assigned to him.

Connell evokes the feelings of a victim and his family in a realistic way that is entirely believable. It is not a sentimental story nor one of pity but simply wishes to express the feelings of regret and loss felt by all those connected with the attacks. The reader cares deeply about the fireman and understands his changed feelings about his split with his girlfriend in light of what happened to him on that day. The world has changed in his eyes and yet he does not know quite what to do with himself in this new environment.

This is the strong point of the collection; all the stories offer windows into people's lives but they do not attempt to explain these lives, the explanation is up to the reader. This is the great joy of short stories in general. The reader is not patronized by explanations of a character's behaviour; it is simply left to them to decide.

Polly Wright's stories emphasise that it is up to the reader to make judgements about characters rather than for the author to spell it out. Finding Alteration is a story of regret and missed opportunity, feelings all of us have felt at some point in our lives. Wright presents the situation of a love affair from school and describes a meeting of the two people years later. There is a sense of regret in one of the characters more than the other and there is the suggestion that the two have missed the opportunity of being together. However it is left to the reader to decide whether this is good or bad thing and how one should cope with life's regrets. Wright shows us a different way of coping in her other story Shropshire Gold.

Are You She? celebrates all that is good about short stories and the brief glimpses of life offered by the authors allow the reader to delve into other people's lives for a short time but to remember them long after the window is closed.

Myra Connell's HERO is a moving evocation of the aftermath of the events of September 11th 2001. Told through two voices, Connell shows the helpless feelings of a mother towards her son who emerged from the rubble of the fallen towers and those of the son, clearing Ground Zero and how he is coping, or not, with the task assigned to him.

Connell evokes the feelings of a victim and his family in a realistic way that is entirely believable. It is not a sentimental story nor one of pity but simply wishes to express the feelings of regret and loss felt by all those connected with the attacks. The reader cares deeply about the fireman and understands his changed feelings about his split with his girlfriend in light of what happened to him on that day. The world has changed in his eyes and yet he does not know quite what to do with himself in this new environment.

This is the strong point of the collection; all the stories offer windows into people's lives but they do not attempt to explain these lives, the explanation is up to the reader. This is the great joy of short stories in general. The reader is not patronized by explanations of a character's behaviour; it is simply left to them to decide.

Polly Wright's stories emphasise that it is up to the reader to make judgements about characters rather than for the author to spell it out. Finding Alteration is a story of regret and missed opportunity, feelings all of us have felt at some point in our lives. Wright presents the situation of a love affair from school and describes a meeting of the two people years later. There is a sense of regret in one of the characters more than the other and there is the suggestion that the two have missed the opportunity of being together. However it is left to the reader to decide whether this is good or bad thing and how one should cope with life's regrets. Wright shows us a different way of coping in her other story Shropshire Gold.

Are You She? celebrates all that is good about short stories and the brief glimpses of life offered by the authors allow the reader to delve into other people's lives for a short time but to remember them long after the window is closed.