Sunday 23 June 2013

Travelling Light

Finished June 23
Travelling Light by Peter Behrens

This collection of stories is grouped into three: Boy's Life, Away, and Coming Home.
The seven stories in the Boy's Life section all involve young people and defining events in their lives, from first loves, to leaving home. The nine stories in Away are all people on the move, away from the place they grew up, coming of age or trying to find their way. The seven stories in Coming Home are all people who have returned, briefly or permanently to their past, a childhood home, the country of their birth, a person they once had a relationship with, and how they fit in, or don't, to that past that may have changed some while they were away. I was struck by the very different feel from one story to another and by the different voices in the stories. Some stories are written in first person, some in third, some flowing easily, some clipped and abrupt. A wide-ranging collection of stories, some of them related to each other in subtle ways. A great collection.

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