A review by callum_mclaughlin
A River in Egypt by David Means

2.0

This is the first of the Faber Stories range that sadly didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, per se, but a story about a father's anguish as he awaits a potentially life-changing diagnosis for his young son should have made me feel emotional or tense. Instead, I have to concede that I felt a little bored by its tangential style.

I suppose it's a snapshot of a moment. It explores the idea that illness affects a whole family, and that sometimes ignorance is bliss. It just never gets into the grit of the situation or the characters' mindsets enough to leave any lasting impression beyond the power of its concept.