{"id":2218,"date":"2025-01-24T16:30:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T03:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/?p=2218"},"modified":"2025-05-03T13:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T01:33:11","slug":"the-pets-we-have-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/01\/24\/the-pets-we-have-killed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pets We Have Killed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Barbara Else<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Quentin Wilson Publishing<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Otago Daily Times, January 11th 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Better known for her adult novels and children\u2019s stories, The Pets We Have Killed<\/em> showcases Barbara Else\u2019s talents with the short story. The pieces in this collection range from Mansfield-like slices of life such as \u201cThe Huntington Road Girls\u201d, in which an expedition to a local reservoir leads to an unexpected and terrifying encounter with the boys of Portugal Road, to Carter-esque fairy tales like \u201cNeedlework\u201d and \u201cVengeance\u201d. There is even a piece of science fiction: who knew that requiring wannabe political representatives to undergo public abuse and two years of seclusion – complete with sleep deprivation, fasting and bloodletting \u2013 would severely limit the pool of available candidates?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite varying widely in genre, tone and setting, the mix of new and previously published work forms a richly layered and thematically cohesive whole. Many stories explore male-female relationships and power dynamics, with women facing a variety of sadly familiar challenges, which they address in various ways, from the direct to the cryptic. As the protagonist of \u201cThrall\u201d puts it: \u201cHe thinks he owns her \u2013 let him think so. Crypsis, which can be protective camouflage as well as aggressive masquerade, is much more prevalent in the human species than in any other and used in less predictable ways.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Else is also a keen observer ofthe human condition, and two of the most memorable stories explore how our understanding of the world changes as we move from child- to adulthood. In \u201cCollateral Damage\u201d, a schoolgirl finds herself used as unwitting ammunition in a spiteful battle between staff members when her teacher instructs her to recite a revised version of Binyon\u2019s \u201cFor the Fallen\u201d to his rival\u2019s class. It is an act of cruel mockery whose significance we, as readers, recognise, although she does not. Yet, despite her lack of understanding, she senses the wrongness of the situation and is left with a sense of culpability for failing to speak out: \u201cShe should have said it didn\u2019t feel right. She should have said\u201d. And in \u201cImaginary Friends\u201d a son\u2019s adoption of an imaginary twin sister reminds his mother of a boy from her own childhood whom she once thought equally fictitious but now realises was all too sadly real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those of you looking for lighter summer reading, please don\u2019t let the above descriptions put you off. The book abounds with humour, satire, and thoughtful reflections on love, romance and family. Even the darker stories are leavened by Else\u2019s beautiful and evocative writing. \u201cImaginary Friends\u201d, for example, was as notable for a description of gate-swinging that transported me back to childhood (\u201chop on the back, give a gentle push off with a foot, slowly sway the quarter circle until it bumps to a soft stop at the post with the lock\u201d) as for its powerful epiphany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its slim dimensions, The Pets We Have Killed<\/em> is a rich and deep: A collection to dip into and savour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Else Quentin Wilson Publishing Otago Daily Times, January 11th 2025 Better known for her adult novels and children\u2019s stories, The Pets We Have Killed showcases Barbara Else\u2019s talents with the short story. The pieces in this collection range from Mansfield-like slices of life such as \u201cThe Huntington Road Girls\u201d, in which an expedition to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[469,370,500,18,375],"class_list":["post-2218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-barbara-else","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\/2218","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=2218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2219,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions\/2219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}