It has been a while since I paid attention to short story collections. Just as Ruby by Cynthia Bond whooshed me out of my reading slump, Sweet Home by Carys Bray has bewitched me with two fairy tale stories. Usually I recommend one short story per post; but here are two. Their themes are very similar and it only feels fair to mention them together.
THE BABY AISLE
The first one, The Baby Aisle is an extraordinary story. A happy household – a mother, a father and four kids. What could be wrong? Except that these babies were bought from a supermarket, chosen from the display on an aisle.
I loved Carys Bray’s build up the whole environment of the story. Buying babies seemed such a normal thing to do, and yet there are subtle references to what could go wrong. I loved the read.
THE ICE BABY
The Ice Baby is another story in this collection. It is very similar in theme to The Baby Aisle. On the day of Winter Solstice in North Country, Jens decides to carve a baby girl of ice. Does his wife, Liv, approve? And will an ice baby be as precious as one of flesh and blood?
Again, I ADORED this story. I liked the interplay of Jens’ justification of his actions and Liv’s doubts on the outcome of such a drastic measure. The story reminded me of Gepetto carving Pinocchio out of wood. This story captivated me from the start and towards the end I wished it was a novella and not a short story.
More thoughts
It is wonderful to read both the stories and compare how the emotions of the parent towards the children differ in each. While the babies in The Baby Aisle are bought, either because the family can afford to or because of the unmanageable shopaholic nature of the mother, the one in The Ice Baby is created by the father because he needs her in their lives. I enjoyed reading the differences in the family structure when a pre-created life becomes part of it and when your own creation is made a part of it.
Both the stories are themed on choice and acceptance. Several questions loomed over me as I read them. Should everyone be entitled to a choice? Are our choices always right? Is a bad choice a harmless mistake we are entitled to or a reflection on our moral judgement?
—
The Baby Aisle and The Ice Baby are part of the short story collection Sweet Home by Carys Bray. An online version of The Ice Baby can be found at New Fairytales where it was originally published.
I’ve heard a lot about this collection and sometimes it’s a bit difficult to review a short story collection so I really like this idea of just picking the ones that impressed you the most. Definitely sounds like something I will read in the future so thank you for sharing 🙂
You are welcome. I will maybe do a review of the whole book. I thought I would put up the best stories so that those who are not keen on the whole collection can read the stories at least. 🙂
I love short stories but I haven’t been reading them as much as I want to. Recently I got my hands on Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger and I love the power of short stories even after reading the first short story A Perfect Day for Bananafish I am left reeling.
I have read a few stories in that collection. There is one about the narrator being smitten by a girl. And a beautiful sentence saying “She stood there doing nothing except holding the universe together”. I was taken away by the beauty of that sentence. I am not sure if i quoted right, but that was the meaning of the whole thing.
These stories sound very intriguing! I don’t read many short stories, but this set seems to be both unique and interesting. Lovely review.
Thank you. Hope you will try out a few short stories and see if you will love reading them
That sounds like a great collection and I love the way you review it! The stories sound lovely, but the cover is intriguingly creepy
Well Bina, to tell the truth, the stories are creepy too, in a nice way 😀