Review: The Red Grouse Tales by Leslie Garland

Published: December 2015

Pages: 358

Synopsis: “The Red Grouse Tales.

Comprising four intriguing novella length contemporary stories, which contain mystery, a hint of the supernatural or paranormal, together with a passing nod towards philosophy and religion - though in these modern fairy or folk tales the fantastic doesn't happen in some remote fantasy world, but right here in this one, in very ordinary, almost everyday circumstances!

The tales are:-

The Little Dog: A story of good and evil, and retribution.

The Crow: A sad, poignant story of misunderstanding, bitterness and blame.

The Golden Tup: A dreadful tale of a young couple's paradise being cruelly taken from them by latent evil.

The White Hart: A happy ghost story, if there can be such a thing!

I usually say these tales are for adult readers because; they are not "all action" from page 1, do contain adult language, do contain mentions of sex, and are for those who like to think about what they are reading.”

Rating: ***

I received a free copy of The Red Grouse Tales from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be honest, this is a difficult one for me to review. On one hand, the novellas within The Red Grouse Tales were so well written. They were rich in detail and characterisation; for example, the dialogue in The Crow was written phonetically whenever the Irish Father Patrick spoke which added another element to the reading experience and must have taken dedication and time to write. But on the other hand, I struggled to get into them. Despite all the positives, some of which I have already mentioned, I didn’t get a feel for the characters and felt as if I had to read between the lines a lot. There isn’t anything wrong with this, there is nothing wrong with authors wanting their readers to really think about what they are reading, but personally, I felt there was a little too much thinking and not enough reading for me.

The stories were so rich in detail and well written, I think these 4 novellas where the perfect length to really compliment Leslie Garland’s writing. They were so immersive and detailed that I think being any longer would have been a detriment to the author’s writing style. I also enjoyed the slightly old fashioned tone that these stories had.

I don’t think anyone can deny that Leslie Garland is a very talented writer, but these stories just weren’t for me.