Touchy Subjects by Emma Donoghue

Touchy Subjects

Emma Donoghue

I love this collection of short stories on ‘touchy subjects’. All human life is there, babies, domesticity, meetings with strangers, desire and, of course, death. Nothing is sacred in this book. Everything can be talked about with a dash of wry humour, the odd belly laugh and the occasional tear in the eye.

Extract
'Hello there', said Carmel, and her voice was so warm he thought be could slip right into it and sleep. 'Are you coming home soon?'
'Any minute now: I just need a bit of help,' he admitted.
'Are you still at it?'
'She spilt the first lot.'
Carmel let out a roar of laughter. 'I should have warned you,' she said. 'When we shared a flat, Sarah was always knocking over cups of tea.'
'Are you comparing my precious seed to a beverage woman?'
'The comparison is entirely in your favour.' Her voice changed for a minute; her mouth moved away from the phone and he heard her say, 'You go up and brush your teeth, love. I’ll be up as soon as I’ve finished talking to Daddy.'
Parallels
  • Ladies’ Night at Finbar’s Hotel by Dermot Bolger (editor)
  • Beware of God by Shalom Auslander
  • A Woman’s Eye by Sara Paretsky (editor)
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Explicit sexual content