Small towns harbour secrets. Rising, receding and returning like the tides lapping the fictional coastal town of Kinsale, the stories in this collection revolve around Alice and Grace, friends since childhood, who grow to live vastly different lives.

Weaving in and around these women is a lattice of interconnecting stories drawing in their husbands, families, neighbours and strangers, each linked to one another by fate or circumstance. Having Cried Wolf is a contemplative and affecting collection – one that marks the arrival of an original literary talent.

I am not usually a fan of short stories but these were all interconnected with characters occupying the whole framework rather than the usual stand alone tales. The writing is accomplished for this debut collection and I will be interested to see what the author writes in the future.

Making available at the OZVBB at Librarything.

Posting in the next few days as requested via the OZVBB. Enjoy

Received safely as a choice from the OZVBB. Thanks very much, jeniwren.

An excellent debut collection of linked short stories set in a small town on the south coast of NSW. An ordinary town, ordinary people and ordinary lives brought to life by confident, observant and sensitive writing. Reminded me a little of Tim Winton's The Turning. I found it to be an enjoyable read even though the stories themselves were mostly far from 'happy' ones.

Next stop is to the lucky winner of the 2018 Australian Literature Sweepstakes.
Shhh . . . can't tell! ;-)

Arrived safely today, and it certainly looks good. Many thanks, crimson-tide!

For a short book, this was a relatively tough read. The stories were told in a kind of elliptical style, in which you really have to notice and remember the details, some of which are merely mentioned in a passing glance. Also, some of the stories are told in the first person, so you're not certain who's speaking until the narrator refers to a family member and you connect the relationship with information from another story. For a while I thought I'd have to start a notecard for every character, listing family, friends, and stories appeared in. I had to re-read the book a few times, but finally the pieces started falling into place. My favourite story was 'Smoke and Fire. Poor Phillipa, lacking the slightest bit of self-confidence which would allow her to stand up to the narcissist Jane!

I'm still left with one big question though: I don't understand the title. Of course, I know that it's the title of one of the stories, and I think I understand the allusion to the boy who cried wolf, and was not believed later. But I don't see how that plays out in the story with that title, which for such a small story built up to a horrifying shock. If any other readers care to offer an explanation, I'll be quite grateful.

That's one person's opinion. Future readers, what do YOU think?

On OBCZ shelves next to entrance