Review: Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved reading this book. It was a wild ride experience. It is one of the most well-written books that I have read in some time.

Jean Swinney is a reporter who is contacted by Gretchen Tilbury who claims her daughter is the result of a virgin birth. We follow Swinney as she investigates the story for her job and gets into deeper relationships with the Tilburys.

The vibe of small pleasures is everyday life juxtaposed with investigating an out-of-the-ordinary miracle. I love how Swinney's columns on gardening tips, her chores, and recipes are peppered in between crazy discoveries. I also like how the everyday relationships are in turn impacted by each of these discoveries. Love the way it is written.

Jean Swinney's character is so much fun to follow, she is real, sometimes witty, and also genuinely nice. I like the writing. The way we discover more about the hospital, the friends, and Gretchen through Swinney's investigation. The way it unwraps is fun to follow.

The Mother-daughter dynamic between Jean and her mother is so well done, I loved every second of it. The dichotomy of their feelings, the conflicts, the banter, and Jean's patience, are reflective of real relationships.

I like Gretchen's character. I also like that as we discover more and also get to know her more, the book switches from representing her as this perfect angelic person to a normal human. I was thoroughly invested in all of the relationships.

Finally, I felt the discomfort and the burden of the truth that Jean felt in the last few chapters, it hadn't just been passed onto her but also to the reader.

BUT what happened to the ending? It was completely out of nowhere and was unnecessary to the plot. The whole vibe was thrown off. It seemed like a scene put in for unnecessary shock value. At beginning of the last chapter, I was a little excited about the changed character perspective, I was excited about insight into this character's internal monologue. I am going to ignore the explanation in the Afterword and pretend it ended with the last sentence before it.

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The Coil

The Coil is an independent literary magazine by the Alternating Current Press. Here are some of the reviews and interviews I did for them.

Lady Aviators in the Men’s Club

A review of 'Fly Girls' in which Keith O’Brien tells the untold story of five women who dared compete against the men in the high-stakes air races of the 1920s and ’30s.

Defying the Odds

An interview with Keith O'Brien the author of 'Fly Girls' about his writing process, routine, research for the book, and its modern relevancy.

Searing Commentary on Society

A review of 'White Dancing Elephants'. On Chaya Bhuvaneswar’s stories which explore the power dynamics of assault, queer relationships, sexism, racism, and societal structures.

Messes & Ambiguities

In conversation with Dev Jannerson, the poet and novelist on their book 'Thanks for Nothing'. 

On Anna Prushinskaya’s Essays

A review of Prushinskaya’s essays on a woman’s flight through childbearing. 

‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’

A dark brown almost black desk,
Over a decade old,
Sat in my room

Serving as everything 

My little brain could imagine at nine;

A spaceship rocketing through galaxies
A tower with a balcony

A little shop where my sister and I sold 'Magic Water'

A stage for performances

A carriage drawn by horses.

A dark brown almost black desk,
Over two decades old,

Sits in my room

Decorated with trinkets

Pieces of my personality

My colourful potted plants
Too many candles

Letters
Feathers

Books

Pictures

Pebbles.

I sit here, fabricating tales
Of sorrow and joy,

Creating worlds far and beyond

Stitching feelings together;

Calling them Poetry

Dreaming of dragons and stardust

Flying through the clouds almost like a Raven

So when The Mad Hatter asks
‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’

Looking right into my eyes

With his glassy dazed gaze,

I whisper,

'Because it can be anything.'

The Art Of Pressing Flowers Between Books

Did you read a book you loved? 

Are you still hungover, intoxicated by the masterpiece of literature that it was?

Are you still under the spell of the words that told you a story unlike any other?

Walk out of your home, close your eyes and recollect everything you loved about the tale. 

Relive the pages that you had felt between your fingers. 

Now look around. 

Do you spot a flower that reminds you of the words that are still fresh in your mind? 

Take the flower in your hands.

Inhale. 

Let your mind entwine it with the story. 

Feel the petals like the pages. 

Let the flower accept the story.

Open the book.

Put the flower in gently.

Does the flower fit in with the story? 

Does it signify everything the book stood for?

Close the book softly and press the edges together. 

Let the story accept the flower. 

That is the art of pressing flowers.