Bottled Goods
Fairlight Moderns Novella
by Sophie van Llewyn
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Pub Date Jul 11 2018 | Archive Date Oct 31 2018
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Description
When Alina's brother-in-law defects to the West, she and her husband become persons of interest to the secret services, causing both of their careers to come grinding to a halt.
As the strain takes its toll on their marriage, Alina turns to her aunt for help - the wife of a communist leader and a secret practitioner of the old folk ways.
Set in 1970's communist Romania, this novella-in-flash draws upon magic realism to weave a tale of everyday troubles, that can't be put down.
Advance Praise
'Sophie van Llewyn's stunning debut novella shows us there is no dystopian fiction as frightening as that which draws on history.' - Christina Dalcher, author of 'VOX'
'A story to savour, to smile at, to rage against and to weep over.' - Zoe Gilbert, author of 'Folk'
'A superb example of the novella-in-flash genre. Bottled Goods is an impressive debut in the tradition of Eastern European Absurdist fiction.' - Jude Higgins, Bath Flash Fiction Award organiser
'Sophie van Llewyn has brought light into an era which cast a long shadow.' - Joanna Campbell, author of 'When Planets Slip Their Tracks'
'Sophie van Llewyn deftly recreates the anxious mood of Communist Romania. A harrowing and ultimately triumphant story, a must-read by a masterful writer.' - Christopher Allen, author of 'Other Household Toxins'
'The uncertainties of life and love, and the insatiable quest for freedom - bottled neatly in a set of stories that captivate and enchant.' - Michelle Elvy, coordinator of New Zealand's Flash Fiction Day and Bath Flash Fiction Award judge
'Bottled Goods is a masterful blend of the political and the personal, the magical and the mundane, the historical and the hyperbolic.' - Ingrid Jendrzejewski, editor-in-chief of FlashBack Fiction
'A dizzying, daring window on life in Ceausescu's Romania.' - Stephanie Hutton, author of 'Three Sisters of Stone'
'Lucid and powerfully affecting.' - Helen Rye, winner of the Bath Flash Fiction Award;
Featured Reviews
Lucy W, Reviewer
Alina is a teacher in Romania, living in fear under the reign of Ceausescu. A small incident in her classroom sparks a host of encounters with the secret service, which eventually leads to her and her husband planning to escape the country. However, Alina’s mother has other ideas…
A story of betrayal, a story of magic and fairies, a story of revolution, a story of new beginnings.
Short, sharp and emotional, this is a gripping read.
Reviewer 486666
Bottled Goods details the life of Alina through the eventual disintegration of socialist Romania through flash fiction that amalgamates visceral, historical fiction with the tradition of magic realism and Slavic folklore. A Master and Margarita-meets-Baba Yaga Laid and Egg, this novella expertly details the the fear that accompanied the Romanian comrade status in a time when it was dangerous to lack conformity in a skilled way that I have only previously seen portrayed by Bulgakov. Sophie van Llewyn's writing style is clear, concise, and expertly utilises the gaps that flash fiction affords to allow the reader to fill the gaps in a similar, fearful way that I imagine Romanian citizens (and all those living in communist times) must have when their neighbours, friends, and relatives left a gap behind them.
Nicki M, Reviewer
This delightful novella blends historical fiction and magical realism, and it so captivated me, I read it in a single sitting. From the start, we get a sense of the claustrophobic world in which Alina lives. The short chapters move us swiftly from one moment to the next, the gaps in time mirroring the disjointed nature of Alina's life following her brother-in-law's defection. Alina came across wonderfully as a character; I was with her every step of the way. The prose is lyrical yet simple, and I loved the way the fantastical elements seeped effortlessly amidst the dire and mundane. Definitely one to read if you enjoy magical realism, or if you are interested in what life was like in communist-era Romania.
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