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Double Act
short stories from

Frances Cherry and Annabel Fagan

Women, with all their wills and wiles, seek happiness and satisfaction — sometimes with men, more often with other women. It is not surprising Frances Cherry and Annabel Fagan are a 'Double Act' in producing this collection, as their stories complement each other's in that they both explore relationships in very intimate ways. Their characters have rich internal lives and, in some cases, their loves and desires drive them literally off the edge into unexpected places. At times exotic and erotic, these stories will intrigue and amuse.       Linda Niccol

Reviews

You might wonder - I did - how stories by two different writers would be combined in one volume. Here are 28 stories; 13 are by Frances, 15 by Annabel, but the joy of it is that they are interspersed (one by Annabel, two from Frances, three Annabel, two Frances...etc) in a way that gives the book spontaneity and thematic integrity but with plenty of variety. Each writer has her distinct style and both have plenty of variety, the voice fitted to each particular story. The stories are set in Italy, England, India, mostly here in New Zealand; in the fifties, the present and everything in between. Tales of single and partnered women, lesbian and not, parenthood, friendship, loss and death, murder, flirting, fidelity, betrayal - vignettes from the 'lives of girls and women' but with no preaching and a good deal of impishness. It's a mark of a good collection, I think, that each story is un-entangled with the others while each feels as though it belongs to the whole. An attractive book with its enigmatic cover painting by Seraphine Pick, it's a good read.   Sylvia Bagnall  Women's Studies Association (NZ) newsletter V. 30 No 3, March 2010

TITLE               Double Act
AUTHOR         Frances Cherry and Annabel Fagan
PUBLISHED    2010
CATEGORY    Short story anthology
FORMAT         Paperback
EXTENT          A5, 166 pages
ISBN                978-1-86942-114-4
PRICE              NZ  $28

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