Description

ODD SOCKS

‘Consider this collection like an old chest of drawers; one that has been ignored and barely noticed through many years. The contents of its drawers are rather jumbled, varied and probably not in their best condition, but no one has the heart to dispose of them.’

So begins the deadpan and sometimes deathly dark collection of short stories by Linda Cooper. Always understated but full of unexpected bite, Linda’s tales of modern living cut to the bone. The quiet terrors, the unexpected joys, the sheer inconvenience of life are set against a backdrop of wry humour and sharply-observed social commentary.

A rather motley and varied collection; maybe faulty, warped, discoloured, out of date, a bit jaded, in bad taste or damaged in some way.

An author working hard to undersell herself: what you get with Linda’s writing is all of these things and so much more. Whether it’s a long withering look at other people’s deceptively inaccurate online dating profiles, an infanticidal revenge plot, a letter to Scarlett O’Hara or a knotted rope that offers a very final escape from everyday brutality, it is hard to predict what odd sock is coming next and how you are going to feel about it.

I know the truth but try telling your psychiatrist it’s the nurse who’s crazy, not you.