Diurnal – Kim White

A deeply affecting and elegantly written short story, Diurnal paints a vivid portrait of a family whose lives are haunted by loss and shaped by grief.

After a fatal accident takes place in their backyard, Susan and Brian decide to try, one last time, to start a family. Against the backdrop of destruction of the natural world, the menace of high-voltage transformers, and unsettling signs and omens, Susan bonds with her unborn child, recording her hopes for him in the diaries she has been keeping since childhood. When the pregnancy ends in tragedy, Susan struggles to maintain her sanity. In her determination to remember her son and build the family she has dreamed of, she sacrifices the relationship she was meant to have with her daughter.

 

This is a gentle and poignant short story. The first half is narrated in the first person by Susan, a jewellery maker desperate for a child after a series of miscarriages, and follows her from events just before the pregnancy up until the birth.

Although I personally did not really take to Susan as she often seemed unnecessarily angry or rude to others around her, I can understand why she was like that. I also felt that the second half of the story, narrated by Susan’s daughter, lacked something. Maybe it was the big jump in timeframe, or the fact that neither the daughter or the husband seemed like fully formed characters, but I didn’t enjoy the second half of the story as much as the first.

Having said that, I did enjoy the story overall and would recommend it as a nice quick read.

Ten Short Tales About Ghosts – K. C. Parton

From Goodreads: ‘In a radical departure from his previous works, K. C. Parton has turned his prodigious imagination to the unsettling genre of the world that is sometimes glimpsed but never understood: the supernatural. This thrilling new collection of ghost stories explores the traditions of Edwardian horror placed in a contemporary setting. With compelling reads including, ‘The Last Train’ and the evocative ‘Ghost of Spetchley Bridge’, K. C. Parton portrays how people react when forces move beyond their control. Diverse locations and memorable characters are used in every story to maximise the disturbing effect. Old factories, the South Downs and Southend-on-Sea provide a vivid backdrop for these spine-chilling tales. With unearthly movements, strange noises and mysterious disappearances K. C. Parton creates an eerie atmosphere. Whether it is the creeping discomfort of a man being forced to challenge his understanding of the world, or an eerie appearance at the local cricket club, he transports the reader to the supernatural world.

Ten Short Tales about Ghosts is a haunting read that will interest fans of gothic literature at any age. Characteristics of both Edwardian and Victorian ghost stories are present in this collection. Residents of the county areas mentioned in the stories may also be interested to explore the paranormal potential at their local landmarks. K. C. Parton has been inspired by the writing style of Susan Hill. His admiration for M. R. James encouraged him to develop his many characters of the collection. These spooky short stories, inspired by the genius of M. R. James, explore extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. Local stories of ghost sightings and strange hauntings also enabled K. C. Parton to find amicable settings for his characters to develop in.’

This little book about ghosts reads a bit like it’s a retired engineer’s first foray into writing. The premise of each of the ten stories is generally good, but some of the characters and much of the dialogue seems rather wooden. A number of the characters are engineers, and there are a few unnecessary descriptions of engineering processes. Many of the stories are set in the past, although for some of them, the setting is unclear, which can be confusing.
I get the feeling this book has been a learning curve to the author – the later stories certainly seem more polished than the earlier ones which can be a bit disjointed, and some of the endings are disappointing.
Having said all this, I did enjoy the gentle nature of the stories, and some of them were atmospheric enough to make me jump when the cat unexpectedly came in the room!
I do feel that the book could benefit from more development, and a good edit or a few strategic revisions could improve this book from an interesting concept into quite a chilling read.

Disclaimer: I was supplied with a free e-copy of this book by Netgalley for review purposes.