Love and Other Possibilities

Love and Other Possibilities, By Lewis Davies (Rated 3/ 5 ) Reviewed by Brandon Robshaw Sunday, 18 October 2009 Parthian GBP6.99 "Less is more" might have been Lewis Davies' motto in composing these 10 spare short stories. Each is a sliver of somebody's life at a particular place and time: a successful but lonely gay playwright in Morocco; a recently bereaved, alcoholic widower with his young son in Spain; a football coach in Wales observing the family troubles of his most gifted player; a man on holiday in India who resists the entreaties of a begging sadhu, only to have his rucksack stolen on the train; an actor who is unable to distinguish himself from his character after starring in a soap opera for 15 years; a medical student who develops a sympathy for the obese corpse she dissects. These aren't stories with plots or twists: just studies in what it's like to be creatures of warm blood and nerves, living in the world. Davies' prose is simple and effortless, the kind of writing that wins competitions - and indeed "Mr Roopratna's Chocolate", the story of a Muslim taxi-driver in Cardiff whose infant son is in hospital with meningitis, won the Rhys Davies short story award when it was first published in 1999. In the space of nine short stories Lewis Davies has traversed the world. Such is the quality of his writing that his journey encompasses Wordsworth's still, small music of humanityA" Dai Blatchford Swansea Life - a beautiful piece of writing - Angharad Crank, Buzz Magazine - his brilliance in realising characters - A M Hobson, Blue Tattoo - Davies' imagery is tender and striking - Holly Thomas, Big Issue - the characters in each story are created so intricately that their innermost feelings and desires are brought vividly to life - Alice Terry, Western Mail - Elegant, bittersweet and direct - Jerome de Groot New Welsh Review an inexplicable magic that metamorphoses the exotic into the familiar. Suzy Ceulan Hughes - Consistently high in quality...wonderfully elegant and unhurried... Anthony Brockway, Babylon Wales