'The Woman of Stencils' is the title of the tenth story in Marianne Price's book of 22 short stories. As a West End actor and singer brought up in North London, the author draws on her very varied life experiences as well as her prolific imagination to enrich her writing of these exceptionally wry and moving tales.
The common theme to all is that of loss, or perceived loss, of something or someone, and the very profound and lasting effect that can have. A few of the stories, such as 'Remember, Remember' and 'The All Too Perfect Teddy Bear' deal with the loss of a child in a very dark and ghostly way, so that they read like horror stories, guaranteed to have the hairs on the back of the reader's head up on end. Far more laid back are the stories dealing with the fragility of romantic attachments, whilst the saddest and most poignant are those dealing with lost youth and time. All the stories have a surrealism about them, are thought provoking and compelling.
Perhaps the most memorable in the collection are the stories with a theatrical backdrop, where the characters and scene setting are particularly realistic and well drawn, since performing has been the natural environment of the author for so much of her life but every story will resonate with and be appreciated by the reader. We look forward to more soon.
Drena Irish, A LoveReading Ambassador
| Primary Genre | Indie Author Books |
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This is a collection of twenty-two finely crafted short stories which range from working-class life in North London seen through the eyes of a child, to the backstage world of West-End theatre and the islands of Kalymnos, Sardinia and Tobago. Some are humorous, others poignant, a few quite dark but all thought provoking and totally compelling.
These stories include ? a woman driven to sow discord, a discovery too late for an elderly man, the oldest boy dancer in the West End, an opera singer suffering low self-esteem and a young man coming to terms with his life following an accident.
The Woman of Stencils and other stories features in the following genres: Indie Author Books, Indie Books We Love, General Fiction, Shorter Reads, Recommendations, Fiction, Fiction: special features
The Woman of Stencils and other stories is available in Paperback
The Woman of Stencils and other stories was written by Marianne Price and published by Independently published
