Drowned Sprat and Other Stories
ISBN: 1869416783
EAN/ISBN-9781869416782
Imprint: Random House NZ Vintage
Release: 04-02-2005
Best known for her well-loved and prize-winning novels, Stephanie Johnson also writes superb short stories, plays and poetry. Written over the last sixteen years, this collection of twenty-three stories show the breadth of Stephanie's writing. It features her poignant insights as well as her sharp wit, with characters as diverse as a woman arranging a second wife for her husband, a criminal returning to the care of his mother, and a widow who hears an octopus call her name.
© Stephanie Johnson 2009. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.stephaniejohnson.co.nz
There are new and old favourites here; New Zealand stories and stories set
overseas, reflecting back on our perspectives and lifestyle. There are fables
and ghost stories, tales of the young and old. This is a book to dip into
and devour.
Reviews of Drowned Sprat
From the rough-hewn American rural landscape to the cold, harsh winds of
Canterbury’s Birdlings Flat, Stephanie Johnson captures the raw, unsentimental
images that fill these places, and the lives of the sad and disenfranchised
who reside there – whether that is a New Zealand surgeon dealing with
retirement or young children coping with the trauma of schoolyard politics
– and delivers them in her uncomplicated and entertaining style.
(Steve Scott, Christchurch Press, February 5, 2005.)
In Johnson’s hands theme and style offset each other, enabling a reading
on several levels… Johnson confirms her place as one of our best storytellers.
Dip in and enjoy.
(Susan Jacobs, Herald on Sunday, January 30, 2005)
At her most sardonic, her tales resemble those of Saki, Roald Dal and Somerset
Maugham. What’s most remarkable about Johnson though, is her willingness
to experiment with tone, style and perspective. Saki was never prepared to
abandon his supercilious detachment: he sniped at everyone from a safe distance.
Johnson takes more risks.
(Iain Sharp, Sunday Star-Times, February 6, 2005)