The Blurb
Twelve moving short stories inspired by the everyday lives of women
- A single woman on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Italian lakes still dreams of adventure. Can she find it closer to home?
- A grieving widow finds comfort in the company of a stray cat that bears striking similarities to her dead husband.
- An estranged daughter confronts an unspeakable tragedy from her past as she attempts to reconcile with her long-lost family.
Geraldine Ryan is a prolific short-story writer whose work has appeared in Woman’s Weekly and Take a Break’s Fiction Feast magazines. The women in this, her first published anthology, may be at different stages of life but all of them are experiencing the ground shifting beneath their feet. Their tales of love, longing and redemption will touch your heart and bring a smile to your face.
Riding Pillion with George Clooney and Other Stories was published by Wrate's Publishing on 29th March 2022. ,
My Review
This is not my usual read but just occasionally I like to step away from crime and psychological thrillers to something lighter. And I do like a cheeky wee short story! And here I got 12 of them! All with women and girls, at various stages of life, at their centre. All the stories have been previously published over the last 20 years or so, in women's magazines
In a short story there is so much less time for character development and scene setting but I felt the author for a great job with that. The stories are quick and easy to read, and written with a light touch. So I was surprised how many gave me the feels.
As someone with a son hopefully heading to university in the autumn, Stirred and Shaken, a quick story about a mother teaching her son how to make macaroni cheese before he heads away, got to me the most. Whilst I'm super excited for my son I will miss him like crazy. I'm not sure it'll be when he's making macaroni cheese (must check he knows how to...) But I hope he thinks of his mum occasionally! This story summed up that mix of feeling pride that he's going, but also sadness because he'll be leaving, and disbelief that a baby boy could suddenly be a young man ready to head out into the world. Yep, that.
I also liked Danny Run Home, another story with a mother and son dynamic. Danny has had his difficulties in the past and caused trouble at home but he says he's changed and wants to see his parents, start a new chapter in his life. His mum can't wait to see him. But Dad? He's really not sure. A story about second chances. And my final favourite is mentioned in the blurb above. In After Harriet, a woman, who hasn't seen her family for years following an awful tragedy, returns home to try to build bridges with her mother. Quite a powerful wee read about how events that happened and comments that were made years ago can still have an effect now.
I've realised that the stories I picked as highlights are all about parents, particularly mothers, and children which figures, I guess, as I am a parent of young adults. But Riding Pillion with George Clooney and Other Stories offers something for everyone. A quick and easy read, the uplifting stories will make you smile. But they might also give you an unexpected lump in the throat. A lovely change from my usual, darker fare.
The Author
Geraldine Ryan is a proud Northerner who has spent most of her life in Cambridge – the one with the punts. She holds a degree in Scandinavian Studies but these days the only use she puts it to is to identify which language is being spoken among the characters of whatever Scandi drama is currently showing on TV. She worked as a teacher of English and of English as a second or foreign language for many years, in combination with rearing her four children, all of whom are now grown up responsible citizens. Her first published story appeared in My Weekly in 1993. Since then her stories have appeared in Take-a-Break, Fiction Feast and Woman’s Weekly as well as in women’s magazines abroad. She has also written 2 young adult novels- ‘Model Behaviour’ (published by Scholastic) and ‘The Lies and Loves of Finn’ (Channel 4 Books.) This anthology of previously published short stories will be, she hopes, only the first of several.
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