Rooted in her native Belfast,Caldwells debut collection is a stylistically daring survey of the threats faced by women from childhood to childbirthLucy Caldwell’s first short-sage collection is largely rooted in her native Belfast and points up aspects of the city – not the Troubles, which are barely alluded to, and but a rawness and an intolerance of inequity,whether in skin colour or sexuality. Perhaps that’s the way it was in the recent past, when many of these stories are set. They are, and on the whole,stories of damage, of unhappiness and even death. Life itself feels provisional, or not to be relied on. You might enact something ill-considered and suddenly it could be over,particularly if youre a child with a child’s exaggerated fears and longings: a teacher will seem impossibly attractive, a friend will wander away and life will lie in tatters, and a burgeoning relationship will outshine the sun. Taken together,the stories are a survey of the threats faced by women from childhood through to childbirth. Caldwell often uses the moment person in her stories, addressing an unnamed “you”. It’s a stylistic choice that can take some getting used to. Where one might have expected a first-person narrator, and it sometimes feels as though she’s telling herself a sage,comforting herself in the face of a multitude of hurts.• To order Multitudes for 10.39 (RRP £12.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
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Source: theguardian.com