Lauren Groff's powerful new short story collection, titled Brawler, has been released by Hutchinson Heinemann at £18.99 for 288 pages. The book is currently available through the Mail Bookshop, offering readers nine compelling narratives that traverse the American landscape from the 1950s right up to the present day.
Exploring Family Dynamics and Emotional Turmoil
Groff's latest work delves deeply into complex family relationships, focusing particularly on troubled mothers, damaged daughters, fractured sibling bonds, and marriages that appear destined for collapse. The collection opens with a story called The Wind, which delivers an emotional gut-punch as it follows a woman's desperate attempt to escape her violent police officer husband.
Standout Stories in the Collection
The title story Brawler presents diver Sara as she prepares to confront the world while simultaneously coping with her neurotic and ill mother. Another notable entry, What's The Time, Mr. Wolf?, examines how the slow poison of privilege infects the lives of an alcoholic, unpredictable man named Chip and his protective sister, creating a compelling narrative of family dysfunction.
Irish Literary Collections Offer Contrasting Perspectives
Alongside Groff's American-focused collection, two significant Irish literary works have also emerged. Mary Lavin's An Arrow In Flight, published by Vintage Classics at £18.99 for 416 pages, collects excellent short stories primarily set in Dublin and rural Meath. Against backdrops of city streets and rural fields, Lavin's nervy, emotionally contrary characters strive to find equilibrium in their lives.
Lavin's Unsentimental Exploration
Lavin approaches her subjects with sympathy but without sentimentality, fearlessly delving into the hearts of widows and documenting the quiet upheavals of their lives. She charts their wayward thoughts and emotional vagaries in stories like Happiness and In The Middle Of The Fields, while A Cup Of Tea explores complex family dynamics as a returning student becomes entangled in the mire of her parents' troubled relationship.
Reimagining Irish Mythology
Another significant collection, Banshee edited by Ailbhe Malone and published by John Murray at £22 for 320 pages, offers bold, beautiful, and bleak reimaginings of ancient Irish myths and old folktales. This anthology deliberately places women at the centre of stories that traditionally focused on male protagonists.
Contemporary Retellings by Prominent Writers
Ten writers including Megan Nolan, Jess Kidd, and Salma El-Wardany transform mysterious legends of goddesses, imprisoned princesses, and mermaids into stories with contemporary resonance. Naoise Dolan's The Swan reimagines The Children Of Lir with actors portraying birds in a never-ending performance, while Jane Casey's The Changeling offers a clever take on toxic relationships and a woman's revenge against her abusive partner.
Wendy Erskine contributes a particularly wonderful story that conjures a hexed family living on a rundown housing estate, marred by terrible ill fortune, in her reimagining of The Labour Pains Of The Ulaid. These collections together demonstrate the continuing vitality of short fiction in exploring both contemporary family dynamics and ancient mythological traditions through fresh, innovative perspectives.
