Peace and Disquiet is a collection of short stories that stretches from death to hope. Helen Laycock uses vivid language, giving birth to a variety of emotions for the reader: sadness, longing, despair, tenderness, fear, rejection, hate and many more. Each story, aside from a few, left a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth. Some of them are definitely worth a specific mention.
'Till Death Do Us Part' is one of my favourites of all, with the title explaining most of what happens. A moving story about the final moments of an old couple. 'I'm Not Simon' is one of the most unsettling, especially when the end of the tale approached and I realised what it was about. A bitter-sweet symphony about love and death. 'Silver Lining' is a sad story about an abused child. 'Design' is a short fairy tale, one of the few stories with an ending that made me smile, while ‘From This Day Forward' is a disturbing, living nightmare.
My favourite of all is 'Dear Madeline,' a heartwarming, sad story about two children.
I usually read long novels and sagas, but I must admit that I liked these short stories more than any other I’ve ever read.
Helen Heycock swiftly creates entire worlds, some of them fairly realistic, others out of the ordinary and on the boundary of paranormal—like in Design where improbable, weird things happen for real.
The sadness of some stories is fairly balanced by the ones that make you taste hope.
I felt dragged into the lives of the characters as if felt compelled to finish each story as soon as possible, and when I finished the book I almost felt disappointed that there weren’t any more. I want more! and I’ll definitely read something else from this same author.
If you like a quick read into an enjoyable collection, then you can’t miss this one.
Reviewed for Readers' Favorite
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