The Voice in My Ear / Ten stories of modern life

Frances Leviston

BOOKS OF THE YEAR

The Voice in My Ear — ten stories of modern life

Poet Frances Leviston’s fiction debut is a stunning exercise in perceptivity

Mia Levinton

March 13, 2020

Truth be told, I was wary of a short-story collection by a poet, the two disciplines being as different from one another as photography and film-making. But colour me corrected: Frances Leviston’s debut work of fiction positively knocked my socks off. Each of the 10 stories in The Voice in My Ear is about a different woman called Claire — an apt appellation for characters illuminating aspects of modern life. 

Frances Leviston’s The Voice in My Ear / A sharp, insightful story collection

 

BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Frances Leviston’s The Voice in My Ear: a sharp, insightful story collection

The ten stories all centre around a different protagonist named Claire, each clouded by a difficult mother – whether they dominate the foreground or linger slightly out of frame.

BY ANNA LESZKIEWICZ

25 March 2020

“Isn’t it a bit hackneyed to be talking about mothers?” Claire says, bewildered. A silhouetted woman wearing a white coat and carrying a clipboard has just asked her a series of leading (if not misguided) questions: “Your mother was a difficult woman, yes? She was very hard on you, yes?”