Dianne Ebertt Beeaff

An assortment of thirteen objects washed ashore on Traigh Lar Beach inspired this collection of short stories and a novella as the author explores the stories of the people behind the objects and how the objects found their way to the water. Every story had very well developed characters and I felt immediately transported to each of the different settings. In many instances, the objects were not the main focus of the story, rather the character's interactions with the object. The stories were tied together by the emotional impact, the objects held memories of grief, sadness or melancholy and releasing those feelings. The last object, a concert badge, led to a novella called The Fan Girls. I was absorbed into this story that centered around four women's varying degrees of obsession with the lead singer of a Scottish band, Datha. The four women all came from different backgrounds and led very different lives, but were all able to bond and come together surrounding Datha's music. However, obsession has many forms and some can be dangerous. Overall, On Traigh Lar Beach is a thoughtful, moving and genuine short story collection.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (más)

Erica is a young writer who can't seem to get an idea for her next book after the success of her first book. On vacation in Scotland, she discovers thirteen items on an isolated beach. The items are random and there is no connection between them. Erica writes a short story about 12 of the items and a novella about item 13 based on where the items could have come from. The items range from an empty ketchup holder to a child's bucket and a jar of pickled onions. Each item results in a highly emotional story that makes the reader want to mull over each story before they go to the next. 13 unrelated items become part of a cohesive collection of stories. I don't read a lot of short story collections but this is a book that may change my mind - I definitely recommend it.… (más)