My Fence is Electric: and Other Stories

Book Details

• Author: Mark Newman

• Publisher: Odyssey Books

• Language: English

Goodread's prelude to the book

A housing estate is in shock following a child’s disappearance. A girl and her invisible friend go their separate ways. A father and a son bond over Post-It notes. A single father and his daughter have different approaches to the disappearance of their dog. A father finds his way to coax his agoraphobic son back out into the world.

My Fence is Electric and Other Stories is a collection of award-winning short stories looking at those moments in life that fizz with the electric intensity of change.

Review

An excellent short story gives a grand opening to an end that feels natural, even with a twist. This anthology has managed to achieve it to a great extent. The smooth parade of words keeps the readers besieged. The book addresses several mundane aspects of habitual human life, but the pleasantry exchange through writing style keeps you rooted. The very first story of the anthology creates an air of expectation for the upcoming latter ones. The author has magnificently displayed his quality of eased storytelling.

Though it's a collection, the tonality and flavour created felt at pace and connected. In short, My Fence Is Electric is an intriguing anthology of tales that makes the reader live through the eyes of the writer. Each story unfurls in its unique mode by setting the scene, and they demand fervour and attention. Hence, it isn't meant for a light read. You need to be prepared to dictate your attention to follow the storyline. My top recommendations from the collection are:

• Before There Were Houses, This Was All Fields

• This Bird She Calls Fear

• Swedish Marbles

• Sunflower Seeds

• Smoke Signals

I rate it at a 4/5 for it definitely had a handful of stories I would revisit for future reads. Give this book a try if a short story is your thing.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from Odyssey Books in exchange for an honest review.

...

You can also read my review at Goodreads.