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balancinghistorybooks's review
4.0
When I visit my local library, I'm like a magpie, borrowing anything which I fancy, even if I've not heard of it before. I have decided to try and be more comprehensive about going through the many to-read notebooks which I have kept since I was a teenager, deliberately selecting tomes from them to read. I therefore came across a collection of Angela Huth's short stories, which I had written down about ten years ago, and decided to try them out. I requested her Collected Stories through my local library, and the book was sent to me from the Country Store, where I believe it had been languishing for some years (the last date stamp reads 2007).
I had not read any of Huth's work before picking up her Collected Stories, and must admit that I wasn't really sure what to expect. I do not recall ever seeing her work reviewed, and I do not remember where I found the recommendation. Regardless, I settled down with the book during a storm, and read a huge chunk of it all in one go.
From the first couple of stories, I wasn't entirely sure whether I would like Huth's work; they seemed a little bitty and incomplete. However, once I reached the fourth and fifth tales, I was hooked. Some of the better stories are found towards the back of the collection.
Huth's tales are well written - sometimes beautifully so - and very easy to read. Huth's work feels quite old-fashioned on the whole, and these were lovely to settle down with; I was reminded at points of work by Carol Shields and Penelope Lively. I feel as though her style really suits this short form, and I'm currently unsure as to whether I will read any of her longer work at any time soon.
Collected Stories only had 8 ratings on Goodreads before I added my review, and I feel that it - and, too, Huth as an author - has been quite unfairly overlooked. There is so much here to admire; the characters have depth and realness to them, and the situations in which they find themselves, whilst generally quite commonplace, are rendered memorable due to the reactions which Huth relates.
The focus upon female characters, particularly those in their middle- or old-age, made the whole feel cohesive. There are commonalities threaded throughout Collected Stories, but each story is different enough to read one after the other. I would highly recommend this collection, and believe that 'Laughter in the Willows', one of the later stories, is something akin to a masterpiece.
I had not read any of Huth's work before picking up her Collected Stories, and must admit that I wasn't really sure what to expect. I do not recall ever seeing her work reviewed, and I do not remember where I found the recommendation. Regardless, I settled down with the book during a storm, and read a huge chunk of it all in one go.
From the first couple of stories, I wasn't entirely sure whether I would like Huth's work; they seemed a little bitty and incomplete. However, once I reached the fourth and fifth tales, I was hooked. Some of the better stories are found towards the back of the collection.
Huth's tales are well written - sometimes beautifully so - and very easy to read. Huth's work feels quite old-fashioned on the whole, and these were lovely to settle down with; I was reminded at points of work by Carol Shields and Penelope Lively. I feel as though her style really suits this short form, and I'm currently unsure as to whether I will read any of her longer work at any time soon.
Collected Stories only had 8 ratings on Goodreads before I added my review, and I feel that it - and, too, Huth as an author - has been quite unfairly overlooked. There is so much here to admire; the characters have depth and realness to them, and the situations in which they find themselves, whilst generally quite commonplace, are rendered memorable due to the reactions which Huth relates.
The focus upon female characters, particularly those in their middle- or old-age, made the whole feel cohesive. There are commonalities threaded throughout Collected Stories, but each story is different enough to read one after the other. I would highly recommend this collection, and believe that 'Laughter in the Willows', one of the later stories, is something akin to a masterpiece.