Help the Witch, by Tom Cox. Pub 2018
An Unbound book, I don’t recall what took me to this one – likely a Facebook suggestion, or newsletter blurb make it sound intriguing. And it was. A quirky set of short stories, all with a ghostly theme, they are a bit uneven (trying to be eclectic) and some a bit of a slog. The writing about the landscape is excellent and evocative, bringing the chill of the forest winter to the reader. The best was the one about Helen and Alice and Rob and Peter; I was immersed in the real world love story and didn’t see the ghost story coming. I could have read a much longer version of this story. The title story is also quite good, and could have carried on longer and been worth it. I liked the writing style a lot, and enjoy the various story formats (even the string of classified ads and news stories). This is the author’s first work of fiction. I will try a non-fiction piece another time.
Another book I wish I had in hard copy rather than on e-reader, as the art work is likely very good.
rclr 