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kleonard's review against another edition
5.0
This collection of short stories and a novella is a wonder and a delight. Focusing in part on middle-class Americans in the 1960s and in part on women's experiences in westward expansion, the book is full of astonishingly original and evocative description and character realization. In every piece included here, Holladay captures historical contexts and deftly weaves them in with personal crises, concerns, and changes. The women in the stories come of age, detach from family, and grapple with identity in fascinating ways. The historical settings and use of real-life figures mirrors in some ways Emma Donoghue's books like The Woman Who Gave Birth To Rabbits, but the writing is uniquely Hollday's. Revel in this book.
chocolatelady1957's review against another edition
3.0
As promised, my first book review of the New Year is for "Brides in the Sky" by Cary Holliday, which is a collection of mostly historical fiction short stories and a novella. If you ask me, shorter fiction is harder to write than novels, and you can find out if Holladay succeeded with this format on my new blog, here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2019/01/04/inconvenient-separations/
circelink's review
3.0
Pleasantly surprised by this unknown, to me, author and her short stories about the spirited and hardtack women America is full of. I especially enjoyed the frontier themed stories almost as if the West itself were a character with its detached cruelty and beauty juxtaposed to the women themselves doing their darnedest to survive. While I didn’t enjoy all of the stories as much as those mentioned below, I quite enjoyed the direct and frugal style of writing throughout the whole book.
A few poetic moments from the stories I enjoyed the most:
Brides in the Sky -
“God moved above them, an invisible shepherd, the stars his knowing eyes.”
Comanche Queen -
“She let the laundry fall from her hands. Tears filmed her eyes and spilled over. Her heart was a rockslide, a wagon train, a circle of fire.”
Ebook provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A few poetic moments from the stories I enjoyed the most:
Brides in the Sky -
“God moved above them, an invisible shepherd, the stars his knowing eyes.”
Comanche Queen -
“She let the laundry fall from her hands. Tears filmed her eyes and spilled over. Her heart was a rockslide, a wagon train, a circle of fire.”
Ebook provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
kleonard's review
5.0
This collection of short stories and a novella is a wonder and a delight. Focusing in part on middle-class Americans in the 1960s and in part on women's experiences in westward expansion, the book is full of astonishingly original and evocative description and character realization. In every piece included here, Holladay captures historical contexts and deftly weaves them in with personal crises, concerns, and changes. The women in the stories come of age, detach from family, and grapple with identity in fascinating ways. The historical settings and use of real-life figures mirrors in some ways Emma Donoghue's books like The Woman Who Gave Birth To Rabbits, but the writing is uniquely Hollday's. Revel in this book.
cookiemonster's review
3.0
3.5/5
I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Short story collections are hard to rate especially when I was not completely drawn in by them all; though, some where fantastic. The collection as a whole was an interesting reflection on the role of women in society and in family life and how that has changed in the last hundred years. The female protagonists were often very strong-willed, forward-thinking women/girls bound by the constraints of societal norms. In summary, I enjoyed this collection and was entertained by most of the stories.
I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Short story collections are hard to rate especially when I was not completely drawn in by them all; though, some where fantastic. The collection as a whole was an interesting reflection on the role of women in society and in family life and how that has changed in the last hundred years. The female protagonists were often very strong-willed, forward-thinking women/girls bound by the constraints of societal norms. In summary, I enjoyed this collection and was entertained by most of the stories.
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