Pray – Caleb Azumah Nelson
This hit me harder than expected! Initially I wasn’t sure it was for me but after a few minutes I was hooked and by the end I was near to tears.
The relationship between the narrator and his older brother Christopher is beautiful. Following the death of both parents, they rely their bond with each other while navigating a hostile world. Music plays a large part in this connection and description of the rap battle at the industrial estate was my favourite part of the narrative.
‘The world we frequented wasn’t built for with us in mind’
‘We’re the wrong age, too young to be adults, too old to be children but stuck in bodies which implicated us both ways’
‘Silence morphed to quiet – which is a different thing altogether and requires a very specific attention.’
In the Car with the Rain Coming Down – Jan Carson
I listened to this one immediately after Pray and, my, was it an abrupt change of tone This is what I love about the BBC Short Stories – the selections are always so different! Jan Carson’s piece delves into complex family dynamics and undercurrents of tension, some more overt than others. The ‘everydayness’ of this story was lovely, from the arguments about which car to take/who would drive to the sibling rivalry and teasing, to provision of Percy Pigs in an M&S bag. I especially warmed to the narrator and her acceptance of the disagreements but refusal to be deeply affected.
‘She’s made an effort for William’s birthday. Her toenails are pink to match her fingernails, though the effect’s muted by a layer of nylon tights, bamboo colour with a thick seam running across her nails’.
‘We’ll congratulate the pair of them, we’ll measure our words carefully, saying enough to cover ourselves but no more. We’ll accept a slice of Victoria sponge’.
The Grotesques – Sarah Hall – WINNER
2020’s winning story begins with the striking image of a homeless man mockingly made up as some form of grotesque Arcimboldo painting. The man, Charlie Bow, ‘bookends’ the main part of the story; at the end a body, presumed to be his, is pulled out of the canal. Both events connect to the protagonist, Dilly, the first witnessed in person while the second she is only told about. Delilah, known affectionately, or perhaps only more conveniently as Dilly, is a young woman lost in her family, amongst confident siblings and an overbearing, even manipulative mother. The extent of this control is really only hinted at; in such a short story it is only possible to give an impression of the full picture, though this is arguably more effective, encouraging the reader to draw conclusions. There are discussions of a lost baby, therapy and partners seemingly pushed out of a prioritised family unit (Sam and Rebecca) – ‘the worst thing was to disaffiliate’. I felt a level of sympathy throughout for Dilly, but I was also relieved when the story ended, as the suppressed tensions made me uncomfortable.
Come Down Heavy – Jack Houston
Simone and Jackie are addicts sometimes in recovery. They live a hand-to-mouth existence on the fringes of society but find comfort in their relationship. Honestly, this was probably the story I enjoyed least, more for the style than the subject matter, though I liked the vivid sense of setting and necessity. The structure was quite unusual, with the pace of the story marking a pattern replicating hit to hit but I enjoyed the repeated technique of ‘what happened was …’.
Scrimshaw – Eley Williams
This was the shortest of the bunch and a slightly odd one – the strap-line on the BBC website is ‘cautionary tale about late night texts and mating walruses’, which is wholly accurate. The wordplay was the best part for me – it was so cleverly done! I’d recommend listening several times to get into it and fully appreciate how clever this story is, once you get used to the uniqueness.
‘I know that this causes three rippling dots to appear on your phone screen. These dots change in character depending on your mood: ellipses, Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs, Polyphemus’ sockets, the side of a rolled dice. As I trialled potential first responder letters, the trailing three dots must be shifting minutely on your phone screen. Three dots undulating while I dithered, modulating the colour of the blue light hitting your face as you waited for my message to materialise. I drafted a breath then deleted it.’
‘I looked up synonyms for unhappiness and wondered where on the scale you might place yourself if given the option: cheerlessness, desolation, despair, despondency, dolefulness, downheartedness, gloom, gloominess, glumness, malaise, wretchedness. I would list them to you in alphabetical order like this so to not imply my own personal hierarchy in terms of the terms.’
‘Better then to dwell apart from your unhappiness in my answer. You cannot be in control of another person’s feelings. Undwell, antidwell, disdwell, dedwell’.
This shortlist was another really interesting selection! Though ‘The Grotesques’ is undoubtedly a worthy winner, my favourite of this round was ‘Pray’.
B x
Bookishly Abroad 