White Sand Cocoon: A Collection of Prizewinning Short Stories: 1 (Yellow Room Press Short Fiction)

A friend once commented that she found short stories unsatisfying; a bit like being only allowed one biscuit when you want to munch your way through the whole packet. I disagree. Pursuing the analogy, good short story collections should be like the kind of top of the range biscuits you only buy on special occasions, each one so good that you want to savour them slowly, one at a time, making them last as long as possible.White Sand Cocoon is such a collection. Jo Derrick has the ability to conjure up a setting in a few deft strokes. She pays such close attention to detail that you can almost taste the fish and chips, hear the sea, smell the salty air, feel the warmth of the sun.These are not cheerful stories. Jo's characters suffer painful losses and disappointments. Their lives rarely work out as planned. They carry the burdens of past sadnesses with them into the present. Somehow they find ways to survive, so well drawn that you can imagine their lives beyond the pages. A collection to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace, and returned to often, not gobbled down like a packet of cheap custard creams.

This is an excellent collection of short-stories. Jo Derrick has crafted such believable characters. They leap from the page from the start, and as soon as you start reading you feel you know them. There is an stark honesty to her writing, which never disappoints and draws you in. Sometimes her stories are raw - dealing with human emotion and the complexity of relationships. Other times, the plot twists she throws in leave you in awe. The richness of her writing, the brush strokes and details she adds to a range of subjects and settings, are what makes her stories stand out from many others I have read. Where fiction is concerned, you're in safe hands with Jo. I highly recommend this collection.

I promised myself that I'd read more books in 2019. Read new authors and different genres. I've always enjoyed reading Jo Derrick's shot stories and it was a real treat to have them all together in one collection for me to dip into. These stories are wide-ranging from subject matter to length. I found this very interesting as I was able to read a few short short stories quickly and take more time to immerse myself into a longer piece. The language is rich and the landscape of Britain in these stories really bring out the diversity of the landscapes and the people inhabiting these stories.A winning collection, as one will notice, there are several competition-winning stories included and they make for a joyful reading.

What a collection of stories! Each one takes you somewhere new. The style and depth of each carefully crafted tale is rich with descprition, with character and a sense of place. Perfect reading for enjoying like a fine wine. A veritable delight. I'm not at all surprised they are prize winning.