Quoted from the blurb:
"A man finds God and finally wants a child- only his wife is now forty three years old. A coach's son discovers his sexuality on the football field. A room mate bizarre secret liberates a repressed young woman. From the unforeseen consequences of a polite social lie to the turmoil caused by a single hair on a woman chin, Donoghue dramatizes the seemingly small acts upon which our life often turn. Many of the stories involves animals and what they mean to us or babies and whether to have them; some replay Biblical plots in modern contexts. With characters old, young, straight, gay and simply confused, Donoghue dazzles with her range and her ability to touch lightly but delve deeply into human condition."
The blurb says all about the topics of the nineteen short stories this book offers. I can't really say I loved the book as I had said about Room by the author. There were some stories that kept me glued and some that I couldn't even connect a bit and even thought to skip parts. The book is divided in to five sections named - Babies, Domesticity, Strangers, Desire and Death. The stories from 'Death' are the ones I least liked, may be because of the subject matter itself. The stories on 'Babies' and 'Domesticity' were the ones I enjoyed most. They were subtle, absorbing and had a humorous touch to it.
If I had to rate it only on the stories I loved, I would give it a 4/5 but overall it would manage a balanced 2.5/5.
Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!
Yes, it does sound interesting...I'll look out for it.
ReplyDeleteHaving just read and reviewed Room I was very intrigued to come across this review of 'Touchy Subjects'. I am not really a fan of short stories so thanks to your review will give this a miss and not feel I am missing anything. Thanks Jyoti.
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