Yesterday's Weather: Stories
is Anne Enright's collection of short stories which were written over the course of 19 years. Enright, winner of the 2007 Man Book Prize for The Gathering (Man Booker Prize)
, is an Irish author and she writes melancholic stories very typical of many Irish writers. This collection includes 29 stories which are set in modern Ireland and tell mostly mundane tales of daily life. Enright skillfully creates stories with impact which is even more impressive considering the backdrop of everyday life against which the stories are set. The characters grapple with marital strife, infidelity, and the strain of motherhood and Enright's description of the small injuries suffered while shouldering these burdens is precise. The descriptions allow the reader to relate to the characters in an intimate way.I enjoyed this collection of short stories due in large part to the author's writing style - her prose is beautiful and seems almost poetic. The stories were not, however, all consistently good. Some really stood out while others fell flat for me. The cumulative effect of the melancholy that pervade these stories also started to weigh on me as I moved through the collection. I found myself yearning for something hopeful or uplifting in the next story. Although I appreciate dark stories, I think I need them in smaller doses!
Anne Enright's beautiful writing style and her ability to convey so much with few words far outweigh the sometimes gloomy tone of these stories.
