Kevin Crowe (2020) No Home In This World

In these six short stories Kevin Crowe favours the fallen and the vulnerable. I like that he takes on difficult themes. Involuntary incest. Involuntary and false imprisonment. Deported gay refugee, who can’t prove who he is or what he is. A Mary and Martha story, a soldier that loses his wife and gives up on life, but finds another partner. Historical romp and misunderstanding of the slave trade. And gay, coming-of-age in the age of AIDs, narrative.

Short stories should be like a corkscrew and come to a point (in my opinion). In the first story of the collection, the balding third-person narrator Tom and red-haired Gail hook up –eventually. She’s fiery, he’s sand. I guessed the denouement from the first clues. Most stories followed the same predictable path and the Scottish Highlands provides a backdrop of write what you know. 

I wouldn’t normally have gone beyond the first story, but persevered. You may find better pickings or feel differently. We’re all struggling for meaning in life is the subtext (whatever that is).  Read on.