A review by amothersmusings1
Frail Little Embers by Fija Callaghan

4.0

“Frail Little Embers” by Fija Callaghan is a beautifully printed and illustrated collection of twenty one folklore and fairytale stories, designed to give hope in times of darkness and present challenging topics in a way that shows our potential to overcome them. 

 

The opening story “Spinning Sugar” gave a very strong introduction to what the reader can expect. I really enjoyed this haunting tale and followed it perfectly as each scene clearly appeared in my mind. 

 

I think the author could be on to something with the bibliotherapist tale, ‘The Story Doctor’ - books dispensed as medicine to cure ills of the mind is a fabulous idea and on further research,  I’m amazed I’ve not heard of this actual thing sooner.  This along with “After the Fall” were my favourites and gave me pause for thought.  “After the Fall” is a story based on something I think many affected families would wish to do too. 

 

“Songbird” was just adorable, with nods to the previous stories included in the book and was incredibly heart warming. 

 

I generally don’t get along with poetry but I enjoyed ‘Apple Seeds’ which read perfectly like a story, yet in a beautiful poem form. 

 

Short story collections can often be hit or miss and there were one or two here that I didn’t ‘get’ but, out of twenty one individual and unique shorts, this was a minuscule number of duds for me and of course this is just me.  Everyone’s thought processes are different and you may well see those same stories in a different context. 

 

The author, by her own admission has used her wealth of encounters throughout her life to create a variety of unique short stories, based on the eclectic people she’s met.  Judging by some of these tales, she’s obviously had some weird and wonderful experiences! 

 

If you enjoyed “The Haunting Scent of Poppies” by Victoria Williamson ( as I did) and others like it, you’ll know the sort of thing to expect from this story collection and if fantasy/magic realism interests you, then “Frail Little Embers” will keep you thoroughly entertained. 

 

#FrailLittleEmbers - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️