Review of "Twisting Tales", by Clare Le May

Let me confess up front - Clare Le May is a friend of mine. We meet regularly at our local writers' group here in Normandy, and since I first read her short stories three years ago I've been hoping she'd finally take the plunge and publish a book.  And here it is!

My favourite fiction is that which unsettles, provokes, challenges, breaks boundaries. Not just science-fiction and fantasy, not just traditional "weird" fiction, but Borges, Kafka, Bulgakov, Paglia, Marquez, and many, many others.  And I love Clare Le May's stories: she has a voice so strong, female, yet universal, that she happily breaks through several genres to get to what she wants to say. If I had to choose, I'd say her writing was "magical realism" - her stories have a fable-like quality, like modern-day Brothers Grimm, light and open on the surface, unsettling and sometimes upsetting beneath. And yet for all their fantastic quality, they contain eternal psychological truths.

You can get "Twisting Tales" from Amazon or Lulu. It's an 80-page collection of eight short stories. If you like modern-day tales with an off-kilter world view (hey, you're reading this blog, who am I kidding?), then this is worth a look. Recommended - and I hope to see a lot more from Clare Le May.  

Best,

Sarah :)

Link to Amazon.co.uk: 


Link to Amazon.com: