Chattering

Louise Stern

This is a subtle debut collection of 12 short stories that are linked by the theme of deafness. Stern, who is deaf, has created a collection with an intimately personal, if somewhat fragmented, feel - the stories read like snapshots of the characters' lives rather than plot driven narratives. However, I did find the people she writes about intriguing and the insight into a deaf person’s world absorbing. This is an author to watch.

Extract

Sophie was very shy, but Joey loved to tell stories. He could sign beautifully. He was tall and thin, with long arms and wide, long fingers, and when he told the rest of the class stories, his arms would become whatever he was telling the story about .... Sophie loved to read but she never saw anything in any book to equal one of Joey's stories.

Parallels