Beginnings and Endings

The old man putting his earthly affairs in order as his faculties slowly fail him and his life becomes a confusing irritation; the married vicar mentally flagellating himself for the mortal sin he commits on the River Severn embankment, warming his neck in the chill of a spring evening: all the characters in John Blanchard's stories are caught up in the labyrinth of the human psyche. For some, the journey is a dark one, with ego and alter-ego struggling for dominance; for others it's a nostalgic trip, with disappointments and excitements relived as painfully now as ever; and for yet others it is a nightmare as synapses fail to function and control is lost. Sometimes bleak but always engaging, with its sparse prose and evocative language, this introverted yet expansive collection cannot fail to make you think.