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A review by tomunro
Beautiful Sorrows by Mercedes M. Yardley
4.0
This feels in some ways like more of an artist's sketch book than a collection of short stories. Some of the pieces are exceptionally short, others border on the length of a novella. There is a particular niche that Mercedes M Yardley has carved out for herself in pursuing a whimsical examination of some morbid themes - defying the Kay Scarpetta type treatment. Despite this though, there is still an incredible variety to the writings here that flitter lightly and at times quite humouressly around some dark (at times desperately so) scenarios.
Some of the stories were born of stimuli in writing groups, while others were submissions to particular short story competitions, and it is interesting in the afterword to read the stories behind each story and to gain an insight into the mind of an author.
I came to this book having already ready and loved "Pretty Little Dead Girls." That work struck me as a single inspirational idea that grew and bloomed into a full fledged and well sustained novel. The short stories heree at times felt like they were similar ideas being tested to see if they had the legs to run the distance of a full novel, and there are a fair few of them that could have done it and none that are stretched thin in the telling here. It is I guess, a measure of the author's craft, that they leave you wanting more.
The reason why I fell short of five stars is that the variety of styles and stories made it difficult for all to appeal to me equally deeply, though the quality of writing shines through in all of them. It was an easy read, a book to dip into and read a story at a time, the kind that makes a great Christmas gift, so perhaps this review is a little belated.
My favourite story, for we must have favorites (but don't tell the others) is Axes, it made me laugh out loud and I would love to read more about the heroine and her staggeringly poor, but ultimately fortuitous taste in flatmates.
Some of the stories were born of stimuli in writing groups, while others were submissions to particular short story competitions, and it is interesting in the afterword to read the stories behind each story and to gain an insight into the mind of an author.
I came to this book having already ready and loved "Pretty Little Dead Girls." That work struck me as a single inspirational idea that grew and bloomed into a full fledged and well sustained novel. The short stories heree at times felt like they were similar ideas being tested to see if they had the legs to run the distance of a full novel, and there are a fair few of them that could have done it and none that are stretched thin in the telling here. It is I guess, a measure of the author's craft, that they leave you wanting more.
The reason why I fell short of five stars is that the variety of styles and stories made it difficult for all to appeal to me equally deeply, though the quality of writing shines through in all of them. It was an easy read, a book to dip into and read a story at a time, the kind that makes a great Christmas gift, so perhaps this review is a little belated.
My favourite story, for we must have favorites (but don't tell the others) is Axes, it made me laugh out loud and I would love to read more about the heroine and her staggeringly poor, but ultimately fortuitous taste in flatmates.