“She experiences again the exquisite agony, like a fine needle sliding into and right through her heart, as her life’s journey jolts violently onto a different set of tracks.”
Just one more thing is a wonderful short story collection. The array of stories is brilliant, and the endings often surprising. Sometimes, I could guess the ending, haha, but that is because we are told more about the character than the poor person in the story!
Dom Haslam, the author, has done a great job, for the stories are all very different, but with a theme: Just One More Thing. It’s the last straw in many cases, or just one little detail, or one more chance. Most of the time, I felt a little disappointed that the next story was in fact a new story, the characters had me so spellbound! Literally, each short story would make a book in itself, they’re so captivating.
The first story is about Kit and Alison, their new house, old neighbour and various troubles. I love the description of the new house that they have moved into, and it shows something of Dom’s style. “The mustard coloured carpet was so scuffed it was a wonder there weren’t weeds visible cracking the floorboards.” I enjoyed those little lines here and there. When I realised that the second chapter was in fact the second story, I thought, “Oh no, I need to know what happened to Kit and Alison!” The second story soon carried me off though, and poor Alison and Kit were left behind.
The things that I enjoyed a lot were the Brexit and Covid stories. I hadn’t expected that, but they were brilliantly done and had me chuckling. Especially the Covid story, as I couldn’t imagine wanting to read about THAT. But I did, and now I wonder if there will be other brilliant books coming out soon, and again, the covid story is a short story that I wished was a novel!
There are 11 stories, and it’s a good-sized book. They are a lovely length for a quick read, I suppose, and so well written, that the story takes you off immediately. It would be really hard to say which one is my favourite, they are all so different. Some are really poignant, like the one about the quiet man who absorbs increasing pressure and stress, with devastating consequences. Like Dom Haslam says in the blurb, they’re stories exploring the psychological effect of modern life.
I love the feel of the book, it’s sturdy, and has a gripping cover. The layout is really nicely done, making it easy to read with a nice font. It’s definitely an adult book…
I was given a free review copy but was under no obligation or pressure to give a favourable review. These views are my personal thoughts.
