Emma Donoghue's collection contains fourteen stories, each inspired by a real historical fragment, usually a newspaper clipping, court record or letter, about someone on the move. The settings span Britain, Ireland, the United States and Canada, across several centuries, and the characters include runaways, emigrants, thieves, mothers who abandon children, and people who cross lines of race or gender. Each story is followed by a note on the source, so the reader can see what was documented and what was imagined.
Readers of historical fiction and short stories will enjoy the variety and the sense of lives that left only a trace. It suits anyone who likes to see how a novelist turns a few lines of archival record into a full narrative.
Thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2012
- Language
- EN
