I am delighted that this review from the Irish Times mentioned my story 'The Naming of It'.
Here is the opening section:
FLAME. SOOT. ASHES. BONES. Blocking my breath, suffocating
me. To try to stop them, I walk up and down the port, searching for the moon in
the slow hollow of the night, pacing back and forth, too much erupting inside
me to know any stillness. Cars drive up the ramp into the maw of the ferry,
voices shout directions across at one another; there is the sickening smell of
diesel. Then the staff start to let the foot passengers on. I wait my turn,
wait for the people to move in front of me.
All chrome and
steel, modern, mythical, this ferry sells the passengers an ‘experience’, with
its themed restaurants, its cosy bucket seats, golden lighting. Fancy handbags hurry
ahead of me, not wanting to catch my eye for fear they might see something of
themselves in me. I had a classy bag like that once, any amount of them, in
fact, on the top shelf of the wardrobe, matching the outfit, the shoes.
The waiters in
the café nod their heads in recognition as I order a tea, a sandwich. They have
accepted me by now, no longer ask why I take this trip back and over, back and
over. ‘Enjoy that,’ they say, as I take the steps up into the open, making sure
there is nothing but black firmament above my head, still the smell of burning,
still a smoke ball catching at the back of my throat.
