Sophie's Shell and Other Curious Tales by Tessy Braun

  Intriguing, Thought Provoking, Stimulating

Genre: Short Stories/Family/Panoramas
Sophie's Shell and Other Curious Tales by Tessy Braun - Writer 🐚
So historically, I've never been a lover of short stories. They leave me frustrated and wanting more, wondering what happens next and don't give me the time to bond with the characters, something I like to do because I am a big character based reader. I've read a few books full of short stories in the last 12 months, purely because they were written by my favourite Authors and Writers, and I like this Writer's work, so I felt that I should give it a chance. What she has written are short stories, but with a difference, a twist in the tale, a narrative designed to make you think about how you perceive what you reading. I even had my partner read them to see if he got the same from them as I did. They are like word puzzles, in that you are required to figure out the sequence of events, what has actually happened, or who that person actually was, delve deeper. None of them are straightforward, but that is a big part of their appeal. Some I had to read twice! That's how it was for me anyway.
There were twists in each one, and nothing was what it seemed. The first story actually gave me chills, as I was alone in the house at the time. I initially had a tricky time trying get my head round the time line in 'Buttered Toast', but once I did, mind blown! Very simple, but very clever!
My personal favourite was 'The Stable Door', such a sweet tale, but also slightly unsettling, and the one that I am still contemplating.....'Can I Help You'....neither myself or my partner were certain that we'd got to the bottom of that one. A number of the stories could be comprehended in different ways I think. I also love the way the Author has used the different genres. I would definitely welcome and read more of these challenging anecdotes. My brain could use the exercise!
I now feel compelled to re-read the books I have of short stories to find any subliminal messages that might be lurking in them. I would very much.like to see some of the ideas in 'Sophie's Shell and Other Curious Tales', developed into longer stories.

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