Fierce, by Hannah Holborn

Hannah Holborn's collection Fierce was delivered to my door this morning! I dove into it immediately and read two stories, while my baby napped and the two oldest watched a DVD (educational, it turned out--they told me later to never give our party words to friends and divorce is when grandparents move in).

We Were Scenes of Grief is the opening story, and the first one I read. It starts with a dream--a big no-no, they say, but the language is so precise and evocative, and the imagery so grotesque, I couldn't stop reading.

Favourite line: "Outside, the town was like a cornered wildcat." How awesome is that?

Then I flipped to the table of contents to pick another story. A lot of thought goes into arranging the order of stories in a collection, but I can't help myself. I rarely read in order. I recently even read a novel (The Birth House) out of order and thoroughly enjoyed it (You're crazy, my husband said. So what?)

I picked a story titled Sedna--after all Sedna , the goddess of marine animals, appears in my own writing. This story also opens with a dream, but this time we don't know whether the main character is dreaming or not. The opening is surreal, and there're hints, of course, that this might not be exactly real, but hey, who knows. I love (LOVE!) when realities interweave this way.

Favourite line (The protagonist is describing an 8 year old girl): Her small black eyes brought to mind the word shrew. If Angelina came upon this child in her travels, she would not bring her home to Brad.

I loved the bizarre worlds created in these stories. Magical, surreal, and yet too real, almost too painful, as the characters grieve, hope, and dream.

Lisa Moore's blurb on the cover: "Holborn's collection of stories is electric with wit and insight. Sassy, sexy, full of willful women, nasty business, a few freaks, some drunks, acts of adultery and abandonment, the voice of God and veins of gold. It's fierce."

I'm sure to write more as I read more of the stories.