Autumn Leaves is an anthology of “chick-lit” short-stories, written mostly by Adelaide women.
This is very light, fluffy reading, perfect for an hour in the garden, or to take on holiday. The stories are on the shorter side of short-story, easy to read, and unchallenging. The six tales in this book all involve a relationship beginning or ending or, in the case of Sandy Vaile’s Deluge, restarting.
Carla Caruso’s Stolen Kisses and Laura Greaves’ Run to You tell the tales of the beginnings of relationships. Both writers fall into the trap of simply narrating some charming flirtation, which ends in the girl getting the boy. There is no conflict, no insurmountable differences or issues, so both are unsatisfying reads.
Leaving Princess Kate by Samantha Bond, and Just Friends by Georgina Penney involve twists at the end, which usually makes for a good story, but both are fairly predictable.
All the stories rely heavily on dialogue, much of which is twee, but that is possibly in the nature of the beast. This very chatty structure makes for easy but unexciting reading for the most part. In terms of genre, all six pieces seem to fall more into “light, romantic erotica” than “chick-lit”, as the latter usually contains more biting, observational humour than is evident here.
The anthology is only available as an e-book, and is probably worth the small cost for some enjoyable, relaxing reading. It won’t set the world on fire, but it might start a little fire up in your loins.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
- Autumn Leaves is available through Amazon.com.au
Disclaimer: Contributing author Samantha Bond is a casual Arts reviewer for Glam Adelaide.
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