by Jessie Kinivan
A new mother escapes into a dream world; two young girls steal a baby; friends reunite years after a terrible event; a camping trip goes horribly wrong…
The stories in Anne Casey-Hardy’s debut are all about girls and women behaving badly – a theme I relish! This is a forceful collection, filled with characters who act on base instincts and push societal boundaries. They share a sense of mischief, irreverent humour and a longing for freedom that is undercut by an ever-present sense of danger.
I particularly enjoyed the stories with teen narrators, as Casey-Hardy captures the reckless energy of the young so well. Often though, the transient borders of childhood, adolescence and womanhood blur, such as in ‘My Beautiful Dollhouse’, in which a woman’s childhood toys have taken hold in her adult life, or ‘Being the Mother’ where two girls crave the experience of motherhood. Many of the stories read like fractured fairy tales with a lulling and, at times, sinister effect. In each of them though, there is an urgency that is very much rooted in the modern world.
Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls thrums with life, energy and desire and I sped through the eighteen stories despite (admittedly half-hearted) attempts to savour them and will eagerly await anything Anne Casey-Hardy does next.