A Haunting Beauty

Rating:
Summary: It made a fan of me
Review: First, I have to say that the cover art for A HAUNTING BEAUTY is beautiful. It's nothing overly fancy; black and white. But it's beautiful in its simplicity - and the ghost girl is very creepy!

A HAUNTING BEAUTY begins with a preface by Mike Ashley, who selected the pieces in this collection. Ashley also gives us an extensive background of Birkin, which I found quite interesting. Ashley and Birkin selected the stories for A HAUNTING BEAUTY in 1983, but they were unable to find a publisher before Birkin's death in 1985. Birkin himself wrote the introduction. He talks a bit about his life and the genre and even gives background to one of his stories.

The first piece, "Little Boy Blue," is quieter but no less horrific than the rest of the stories in the book. The second piece, "The Mousehole," is a prime example of what Birkin is good at. He tells an elegant tale which moves along and you know something awful is going to happen, but you don't know just how awful until you reach it. A tale of war, the mother in this story is put in a position which is unthinkable. The final sentence really puts into perspective wartime thinking.

"Fairy Dust," is one of the most horrific pieces in the book, perhaps because of the straightforward - and unexpected - way events unfold. It makes you wonder if the evil stepmother really did die out with the old fairy tales.

I don't think I can adequately describe the feelings I got when reading this book. Even in the stories where I thought I knew the end, Birkin managed to shock me in some way - whether it was his use of language or an honest twist of the plot. Birkin knew how to end a story without being trite or vague. He keeps you thinking and it is easy to visualize what comes next. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It made a fan of me, enough so that I sought and was lucky enough to locate some of Birkin's other work in used bookstores. The tales in this book will haunt you long after the covers are closed.

Rating:
Summary: It made a fan of me
Review: First, I have to say that the cover art for A HAUNTING BEAUTY is beautiful. It's nothing overly fancy; black and white. But it's beautiful in its simplicity - and the ghost girl is very creepy!

A HAUNTING BEAUTY begins with a preface by Mike Ashley, who selected the pieces in this collection. Ashley also gives us an extensive background of Birkin, which I found quite interesting. Ashley and Birkin selected the stories for A HAUNTING BEAUTY in 1983, but they were unable to find a publisher before Birkin's death in 1985. Birkin himself wrote the introduction. He talks a bit about his life and the genre and even gives background to one of his stories.

The first piece, "Little Boy Blue," is quieter but no less horrific than the rest of the stories in the book. The second piece, "The Mousehole," is a prime example of what Birkin is good at. He tells an elegant tale which moves along and you know something awful is going to happen, but you don't know just how awful until you reach it. A tale of war, the mother in this story is put in a position which is unthinkable. The final sentence really puts into perspective wartime thinking.

"Fairy Dust," is one of the most horrific pieces in the book, perhaps because of the straightforward - and unexpected - way events unfold. It makes you wonder if the evil stepmother really did die out with the old fairy tales.

I don't think I can adequately describe the feelings I got when reading this book. Even in the stories where I thought I knew the end, Birkin managed to shock me in some way - whether it was his use of language or an honest twist of the plot. Birkin knew how to end a story without being trite or vague. He keeps you thinking and it is easy to visualize what comes next. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It made a fan of me, enough so that I sought and was lucky enough to locate some of Birkin's other work in used bookstores. The tales in this book will haunt you long after the covers are closed.