I was way back in my LT library some time ago looking at authors I had once enjoyed years back, but what with the overwhelming choices in books, many of these authors, after a few books, got lost (or maybe drowned) in the mountain of possibiliities. But while doing this, Claire Keegan's collection Antarctica popped up. Must have been a suggestion, because it wasn't in my library. I love fiction set in colder places,.. so call her first collection a 'gateway' read....

Prize-winning Irish author Claire Keegan is a gifted storyteller. She writes various short fiction from short stories to novellas*, she works with a brew, mixing brevity, emotional depth, a cast of very fallible and relatable humans...all in a way to pull in and bewitch the reader. It's as simple as that. I acquired and read her books in the order written, but it is no means obligatory.

*the latest is being marketed as a "short novel" but it's really another novella.

***This is a review written for her work generally ( )

Keegan's voice is mesmerizing, but I think I may have enjoyed reading these stories individually over many months more than consuming them all in one weekend. If you're looking for some good gloom to match the gray January skies, this is an appropriate choice. ( )

Worth reading for the short story, Antarctica, lone ( )

I don't have much to say about this short story collection. Critically aclaimed it may be, but it left me cold and indifferent. The first story, named''Antarctica'' and the story with the simple title ''Sisters'' were the best, written in a foreboding voice, full of mystery. Especially, ''Antarctica'' was on my mind for days. However, I found the writing to be repetitive and the themes of the stories tedious and too melodramatic and narrow. We have women who want to ''try'' how it would have been if they hadn't made the choice they made, and after a while, I had the impression that each story was the same. ''Passport Soup'' was a welcome change, it was disturbing and dark.

I gave three stars because some of the characters had potential and the three aforementioned stories were marvellously written, but if I wanted to be completely accurate, I would grant 2- 2.5. I am not a fan of family drama and melodrama in general, so I couldn't appreciate this. However, I intend to try my luck with [b:Walk the Blue Fields: Stories|2524702|Walk the Blue Fields Stories|Claire Keegan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328822610s/2524702.jpg|1168396] and see how it goes. I hope I found the distinctive, haunting Irish writing that -for me, at least- was lacking here. ( )

Claire Keegan’s stories have an emotional depth that often creeps up on you. And then hits you in the head with a hammer. Sometimes softly, sometimes not.
In the title story a married woman determined to have a one-nighter discovers there’s some loss of control involved. The daughter of a bully watches her mother attempt to regain some of the control she relinquished to him. Another daughter sees her mother go mad and tries to prepare herself for the same fate. A woman loses a lover, a boy loses a mother, a husband literally loses a child.

The settings alternate between rural Ireland and the southern U.S. - which aren’t that dissimilar. None of these stories are lightweight. They distill the lives of their characters into tightly wound moments that contain the essence of their being. ( )