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A review by kblincoln
Enduring Spirit: Stories by Patricia Flaherty Pagan
4.0
3.5 stars, actually.
This short collection contains a smattering of short stories nestled within a handful of flash fiction pieces.
The opening story, Puca Dawns, about a girl, Maeve, who makes friends with a puca, and then sees the puca in various legendary forms as it helps protect her from predatory adults is the most satisfying of the collection. As the dangers Maeve faces are slowly revealed and the puca changes form, there is tension that builds to a satisfying conclusion.
Blood-red Geraniums also manages to convey enough of a sense of place-- this time a farm where migrant workers of various ethnic backgrounds work that the story of a college girl working for the summer and encountering racism comes across in a short, sharp slice of a story.
The flash fiction pieces I did not enjoy as much in the context of this collection. For example, The Angels of Pont-Saint-Esprit while lyrical, gives so little about the protagonist (male? female?) and situation that it takes the author's historical note to even begin guessing what the story is about. Without the note, I was truthfully lost.
The horrific aspects of flash piece Kit-Cat Clock and longer story After-Shock Angels are muted by the lack of a recognizable protagonist POV...just as I began to sense who might be experiencing hte story it ends.
The final story, Marked, is also one of the better pieces in the book. The story builds tension successfully with alternating narratives of a girl with a birthmark and a young political attache for a sketchy political candidate...culminating in a tragic ending.
There are moments of lyrical writing and a sense of quite deep emotion in each story, but for me, who needs to fall in love with a protagonist, the sometimes amorphous nature of the POV voice kept me from fully following along with the narrative flow.
This short collection contains a smattering of short stories nestled within a handful of flash fiction pieces.
The opening story, Puca Dawns, about a girl, Maeve, who makes friends with a puca, and then sees the puca in various legendary forms as it helps protect her from predatory adults is the most satisfying of the collection. As the dangers Maeve faces are slowly revealed and the puca changes form, there is tension that builds to a satisfying conclusion.
Blood-red Geraniums also manages to convey enough of a sense of place-- this time a farm where migrant workers of various ethnic backgrounds work that the story of a college girl working for the summer and encountering racism comes across in a short, sharp slice of a story.
The flash fiction pieces I did not enjoy as much in the context of this collection. For example, The Angels of Pont-Saint-Esprit while lyrical, gives so little about the protagonist (male? female?) and situation that it takes the author's historical note to even begin guessing what the story is about. Without the note, I was truthfully lost.
The horrific aspects of flash piece Kit-Cat Clock and longer story After-Shock Angels are muted by the lack of a recognizable protagonist POV...just as I began to sense who might be experiencing hte story it ends.
The final story, Marked, is also one of the better pieces in the book. The story builds tension successfully with alternating narratives of a girl with a birthmark and a young political attache for a sketchy political candidate...culminating in a tragic ending.
There are moments of lyrical writing and a sense of quite deep emotion in each story, but for me, who needs to fall in love with a protagonist, the sometimes amorphous nature of the POV voice kept me from fully following along with the narrative flow.