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A review by joelteon
A Sorrow Named Joy by Sarah Chorn
5.0
A Sorrow Named Joy by Sarah Chorn is an incredible story told in a tidy package. In less than 100 pages we are taken on a journey to discover within ourselves a range of extreme emotions. We must face the question of self, the depths of sorrow, and the pursuit of happiness as well as many other questions and feelings. I could have highlighted a thousand beautiful moments in the text to share here, but I barely controlled myself.
The main character, Joy, is content, making the perfect life for her husband, until she makes a devastating discovery that opens cracks in her world. As the synopsis says succinctly: ‘Perfect, after all, is only an illusion.’
'She never understood why people hoarded truths like magpies hoarded riches, nest overflowing with so many things unsaid. Things that never truly mattered, until the moment they did.'
Joy was an absolute delight as she struggled to come to grips with her changing world. She struggles to comprehend what else there could possibly be, other than making her husband happy. The evolution of her character in this tightly woven novella was stunning.
'Lightning struck, and suddenly nothing mattered as much as she did. She was the blood in my veins, the air in my lungs. She was the reason and the logic that gave order to my world.'
I've said this before and I'll say it again now. Nobody writes heartache and emotion like Sarah Chorn. She knows exactly how to play your heartstrings to perfection. I don't know how she evokes so many feelings with the same words we all have access to. It truly is a stunning achievement.
Not only is this an amazing story, but it is a SFINCS semi-finalist and the chances of Sarah progressing to the finals seems a given, even with the very stiff competition against my favourite Indie novella.
The main character, Joy, is content, making the perfect life for her husband, until she makes a devastating discovery that opens cracks in her world. As the synopsis says succinctly: ‘Perfect, after all, is only an illusion.’
'She never understood why people hoarded truths like magpies hoarded riches, nest overflowing with so many things unsaid. Things that never truly mattered, until the moment they did.'
Joy was an absolute delight as she struggled to come to grips with her changing world. She struggles to comprehend what else there could possibly be, other than making her husband happy. The evolution of her character in this tightly woven novella was stunning.
'Lightning struck, and suddenly nothing mattered as much as she did. She was the blood in my veins, the air in my lungs. She was the reason and the logic that gave order to my world.'
I've said this before and I'll say it again now. Nobody writes heartache and emotion like Sarah Chorn. She knows exactly how to play your heartstrings to perfection. I don't know how she evokes so many feelings with the same words we all have access to. It truly is a stunning achievement.
Not only is this an amazing story, but it is a SFINCS semi-finalist and the chances of Sarah progressing to the finals seems a given, even with the very stiff competition against my favourite Indie novella.