Free Love and other stories by Ali Smith

[chesilbeach]

Ali Smith's short story collection completely embodies what I love about the short format. She captures a moment in time of the subject, expressing the joy, the sorrow, the love and the emotion and all within the few pages of the story. As I read each story, I felt that I knew the characters, was glimpsing their life for a brief instance, and was completely satisfied with the time I spent with them. Some writers write short stories that feel as though they are a cut down novel, or never feel complete, leaving you wanting more of the characters lives or stories, but Ali Smith gets it right for me.

 

There's a variety of type of love in this book, ranging from the remembrance of a first sexual encounter for a young woman, the grief of the teenager who has just lost her sister and the secret love of someone who falls in love at first sight with a cinema usher. My favourite was The touching of wood about a couple who take a trip to the former leper colony on the Greek island of Spinalonga.

 

A truly wonderful book.