Book review: A gritty collection of imaginative writing and devastating observation

The stories in this collection, some only a page or two long, get to the point with an economy of language and a razor sharp focus

Claire Hennessy is the author of 12 books for young people. She is also an editor and creative writing facilitator.

• In the Movie of her Life 
• Claire Hennessy 
• Doire Press, €16 

Best known for her young adult fiction, Claire Hennessy’s debut adult fiction short story collection is sparky with mostly contemporary (and some futuristic) stories dealing with everything from transgenderism to an end of the world party.

It’s dark in places with an understanding that not everything works out well in the end. 

You could say that disappointment is a recurring theme, particularly regarding feminism. But that is not to suggest hopelessness in the terse and interesting storytelling. 

The stories, some only a page or two long, get to the point with an economy of language and a razor sharp focus.

In an allegorical story, Voice, the narrator’s voice has been ripped from her throat “in the dead of night” by a man and put into a small metal box. 

While the voiceless woman is grateful for the women and the witches in her life who prepare a spell to smash the box open, the narrator is not holding her breath. 

She has come to know that “the ancient learnings of women are no match for what is forged in the fires of men. Modern girls may pretend this is not so, but they are fools.”

The title story’s narrator, Lucy, feels as if she is viewing her life from the outside and wondering how “it turned into this”. 

She lives with her boyfriend Conor, who is trying to get his comedy script produced by RTÉ, but the broadcaster is not returning his calls. 

Lucy is also a writer, but unlike Conor (who is more privileged than he appears), she has a boring administrative job to keep the wolf from the door. 

Conor is disdainful about her job but it’s what keeps the couple going financially. Lucy has reason to knock Conor off the pedestal from which she used to view him.

A transgender boy in the touching story 'Tonight' needs his mother on the one night she has a rare date. 

Mia, talking to herself, recalls how Jamie, when he was a girl, was called a freak and hated her “girl-body”. “You stupidly used to think it’d all be OK once she understood girls can do anything.

“Feminism. Feminism would save her.” Mia ruefully calls herself an idiot for that belief.

Opening in the year 2164, Colony is a disturbing piece of work that brings to mind Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. 

It’s not so much a short story as a series of entries in a kind of diary form with school reports detailing the progress of female students. They are referred to as sacred vessels.

“The Sacred Vessels must be protected as far as is reasonably capable by man, with a view to ensuring the salvation of life within their wombs.”

A meteor threatens to wipe out planet Earth and so, with the deadline approaching, seven young people are going to a party in The Last Party.

It’s achingly sad to read: “We were the ones who had no one else left and they wanted to be sure we got to the parties”. 

The “they” referred to is the government. And the dearth of people is due to state-sanctioned suicide, billed as “choice” and facilitated with pills and permission to jump.

The deadline passes and life goes on.

The scientists have screwed up — leaving the world in an awful state. People blame themselves for not stopping the jumpers or the pill-takers.

This story concludes that the pharmaceutical companies survived.

“Those of us left needed pills to recover from the trauma. Twice daily, with meals.”

It’s a chilling tale, displaying Claire Hennessy’s imaginative powers in this varied collection.

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