{"id":1254,"date":"2021-09-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T03:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/?p=1254"},"modified":"2025-05-03T13:47:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T01:47:33","slug":"the-pink-jumpsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2021\/09\/23\/the-pink-jumpsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pink Jumpsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\"><strong>Emma Neale<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\"><em>Quentin Wilson Publishing<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Otago Daily Times, September 23rd 2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In contrast to Cotteral\u2019s  of Jack Remiel Coterall&#8217;s meticulously honed minimalism, the stories in poet and novelist Emma Neale\u2019s own debut collection are a mix of flash fiction and longer works of a more serious aspect, albeit one shot through with echoes of fabulism and whimsy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Because this is a compilation of previously published pieces rather than a work composed <em>in toto, <\/em>it lacks the structural cohesion of Cotteral\u2019s collection, but certain recurrent themes and motifs thread through the stories: fathers who are scientists and\/or too engrossed in their work to attend to their families; children transformed by some accident of genetics into something not-quite-human; difficult relationships and our inability to see others in the way they wish to be known. A number of them particularly resonated with me as a parent, from the disquieting opening story, &#8216;The Fylgja&#8217;<em>,<\/em> in which we accompany a woman through a nightmare\/psychotic break\/miscarriage\/early labour, to the blackly comic &#8216;Party Games&#8217;, in which a child\u2019s birthday spirals out of control. Other stories are more playful, including those of a mother and son sharing a Mahy-esque car ride, a jilted bride\u2019s doctorate-worthy act of performance art revenge, and an epistolic wooing that will change your perception of the semicolon forever. Regardless of their subject matter or tone, Neale\u2019s stories have a depth that invites repeated reading; I finished each one wondering what I had missed, and whether my initial interpretation was accurate or merely superficial. These are tales to be taken individually, each considered and reflected upon carefully before venturing on to the next. As a collection, <em>The Pink Jumpsuit<\/em> is a rich and rewarding read from one of this country&#8217;s most accomplished writers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emma Neale Quentin Wilson Publishing Otago Daily Times, September 23rd 2021 In contrast to Cotteral\u2019s of Jack Remiel Coterall&#8217;s meticulously honed minimalism, the stories in poet and novelist Emma Neale\u2019s own debut collection are a mix of flash fiction and longer works of a more serious aspect, albeit one shot through with echoes of fabulism [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[350,376,370,500,18,375],"class_list":["post-1254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-350","tag-emma-neale","tag-fiction","tag-nz-author","tag-odt","tag-short-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1255,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254\/revisions\/1255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}