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A review by ridgewaygirl
Daydreams of Angels: Stories by Heather O'Neill
5.0
Heather O'Neill is a Canadian author who sets her stories in a gritty, half-magical Montreal neighborhood. Daydreams of Angels is her first collection of short stories. O'Neill, who writes like Karen Russell would, had she been raised in Quebec, rather than Florida, excels at the short story, which perfectly suits her off-beat and fairy tale-like writing style. Her stories are alternately bright, but with a dark, foreboding undertone, or bleak, with a touch of magic realism, as though George Saunders and Sarah Addison Allen had decided to collaborate.
In Messages in Bottles, two children are shipwrecked on a deserted island:
The girl wondered if they spent their whole lives on the island, whether she would have to marry a walrus. They were respectable and dependable. They wouldn't cheat on you. But it would be a loveless life. Some of the swans told her that it took seven years to learn to love a walrus. After that, though, everything was okay. More or less.
There are stories based on other tales, like Sting Like a Bee, which follows three characters, a boy, a dog and a girl, all named Ferdinand, like in the story by Munro Leaf. Another, The Isles of Dr. Moreau, has a grandfather telling his grandchildren about his experiences there, and the odd things he saw. Swan Lake for Beginners imagines a Soviet program secretly operating in a village in northern Quebec, where Rudolph Nureyev is being cloned in the hopes of creating a group of great ballet dancers.
In The Saddest Chorus Girl in the World, a woman returns home, broken and unhappy:
The winter wind knew that Violet was coming back. The sky was holding its breath, and when it saw Violet step out of the train station, it finally exhaled and beautiful snowflakes began to fall. Children all over the city were noticing the gigantic snowflakes that were stuck on their mittens. They had been specially designed to impress Violet. The winter wanted Violet back.
She went for a walk in the east end. The gargoyles wanted to crawl right down off the buildings and put their arms around her. She was the only one who had loved them and who had thought they were beautiful. She was the only on who had chosen this neighborhood over Westmount.
Every story in this collection was different. I hope she continues to write short stories, although I'll continue to read what ever she writes.
In Messages in Bottles, two children are shipwrecked on a deserted island:
The girl wondered if they spent their whole lives on the island, whether she would have to marry a walrus. They were respectable and dependable. They wouldn't cheat on you. But it would be a loveless life. Some of the swans told her that it took seven years to learn to love a walrus. After that, though, everything was okay. More or less.
There are stories based on other tales, like Sting Like a Bee, which follows three characters, a boy, a dog and a girl, all named Ferdinand, like in the story by Munro Leaf. Another, The Isles of Dr. Moreau, has a grandfather telling his grandchildren about his experiences there, and the odd things he saw. Swan Lake for Beginners imagines a Soviet program secretly operating in a village in northern Quebec, where Rudolph Nureyev is being cloned in the hopes of creating a group of great ballet dancers.
In The Saddest Chorus Girl in the World, a woman returns home, broken and unhappy:
The winter wind knew that Violet was coming back. The sky was holding its breath, and when it saw Violet step out of the train station, it finally exhaled and beautiful snowflakes began to fall. Children all over the city were noticing the gigantic snowflakes that were stuck on their mittens. They had been specially designed to impress Violet. The winter wanted Violet back.
She went for a walk in the east end. The gargoyles wanted to crawl right down off the buildings and put their arms around her. She was the only one who had loved them and who had thought they were beautiful. She was the only on who had chosen this neighborhood over Westmount.
Every story in this collection was different. I hope she continues to write short stories, although I'll continue to read what ever she writes.