Everything we hoped for - Pip Adam

4/5 stars

Pip writes like a razor. Sharp, crisp, it cuts through all that is non-essential and gets right down to the brass tacks. In her stories, words move fast, things happen, and all the while layers are stripped like onion peels, to lay emotions and personalities bare. Most importantly, she drops you into the thick of things without too much preamble, but at the same time she reveals the story skillfully, artfully, not all at one shot, but bit by bit like an archaeologist dusting secrets off a hidden tomb gradually. Unlike an archaeological discovery though which comes to light ultimately in the full glare of fact, with Pip's stories, she gives you all that you need to finally figure it out for yourself - that right there is mastery of the craft.

I really liked the length of the stories - not too long drawn and not microfiction, just right. I must say though that there is an undertone of sadness in many of the stories - they leave a mark. Even so, a couple of them lingered in my mind longer than others - for example 'Everything', that spoke of love that might have been and missed chances, 'This is better' - a story about love that simultaneously is and isn't, against the backdrop of a $1.95 shop, and actions, consequences and regrets in 'Lightness' and 'A village' in which love turns to disappointment till nothing but nothingness remains. My favourite of the lot though has to be 'Hank Nigel Coolidge' - a delightfully crafted story about a woman who develops a relationship with an earthworm who she christens Hank Nigel Coolidge. It's a wee little five pager, but it really stuck with me.

All in all, a great debut collection, and it was a pleasure to read them. I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for writing that addresses the ordinary that often goes unseen and unheard, in a rather extraordinary way.