If There is No Shelter by Tracey Slaughter

My rating: 5/5 stars

Slaughter’s writing in this novella in flash is poetic, shining with beauty amidst the chaos and destruction of the narrative. The plot concerns a woman navigating life after a series of earthquakes that have wrecked a city and killed many. Amidst the overarching tragedy, the narrator has her own personal tragedies to cope with too, and a lot of conflicting emotions. The fractured structure and broken timeline work so well as we piece together this character and her world. This book will stay with me for a long time.

How to Make a Window Snake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Joanna Campbell, Ingrid Jendrzejewski

This collection of three novellas in flash is a fantastic showcase of the craft. Each tiny novella can be read in one sitting, but will stay with readers for much longer. The title novella was my favourite, Wilkerson weaving in loss and intense emotion, but gently, by stealth, with compassion and warmth. A Safer Way to Fall was like a gut punch with tragedy after tragedy, but woven together in history and with such beautiful turns of phrase. Jendrzejweski’s offering was gentler. real, and very relateable and ending, I thought, on a note of hope.

Last Orders by Graham Swift

It was fascinating to read this, which might be called a novel in flash. It was a bit confusing intiially, with multiple viewpoints, settings and timelines, with little explanation as to who is who. I think the best way to read this, though, is to dive right in and keep going. Swift cleverly weaves in details and back story as we go, and the result is a very real-feeling novel, told in flashes, in a way that emulates how we actually experience real life – both bit by it and all at once. The voices of the characters are spot on.