17 Jan 2014

ONCE UPON A TIMPIECE.


A REFERENCE TO TIME CATEGORY .....


ONCE UPON A TIMEPIECE by STARR WOOD.

SOURCE: Received for review from a representative of the authors publisher, BO TREE BOOKS

When Conrad Sands returns a wristwatch to an old flame after 20 years apart, a remarkable chain of events begins.

The watch passes through the hands of a gold-digger, a journalist, an enchantress and a professor. It touches the lives of a rogue art collector, a domestic helper, and an environmental campaigner. It influences a reverends apprentice, a kept wife, and a self-made man. All of them are strangers, yet all are intricately linked in ways that none of them see.

A deeply thought-provoking debut novel from Starr Wood, "Once Upon a Timepiece" is a gripping portrayal of humanity's relationship with time and the unseen threads of history that bind us together. Told through a series of twelve inter-connected short stories, it explores memory and regret, ambition and weakness, and the texture of time that lies behind all our lives.
..... Outer back cover

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter 1: January: Seize The Day}: Conrad Sands slipped off his watch and placed it on the desk in front of him.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 47}: Grubb reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper that he unfolded and smoothed out on his jacket. "You sit behind your journalistic principles, all high and mighty, washing everyone else's dirty laundry in public. But what about you?"

MY THOUGHTS: Though not usually a fan of the short story every now and then a collection will capture my imagination. This is one collection that did so in a huge way.

A collection of twelve short stories all of which are connected by the obtaining of an antique watch. Once Upon A Timepiece is a cleverly, very cleverly, constructed book that with a twist-in-the-tale to every story never fails to surprise.

Fun, quirky and with a lesson, however subtle, to be had each time the watch comes into the hands of a new character. I don't want to say too much about the overall plot or indeed the individual tales in the hope that every reader will feel the delight I did on discovering the various twists and turns of this wonderfully captivating little book. 


Disclaimer:  Read and reviewed on behalf of the agent for the author, I was merely asked for my honest opinion, no financial compensation was asked for nor given.
Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper. All original content on http://pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk/ is created by the website owner, including but not limited to text, design, code, images, photographs and videos are considered to be the Intellectual Property of the website owner, whether copyrighted or not, and are protected by DMCA Protection Services using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Title 17 Chapter 512 (c)(3). Reproduction or re-publication of this content is prohibited without permission. In addition I would also urge that if you are reading this on any other page you contact the original blog owner/reviewer.

14 comments:

So many books, so little time said...

I am not a huge fan of short stories but I do love any stories that interlink. Thanks for the review, I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for this one.

Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net

Kelly said...

This sounds very good. I've heard of other stories based on the idea of an object as it passes through various lives, but I think this one would be especially interesting.

Literary Feline said...

Short stories are hit and miss with me, but I do love collections like this, where some item or person connects them together, even if distantly.

Suko said...

Are there 12 stories because of the 12 on the clock? This thought-provoking novel by Starr Wood sounds like one I'd also enjoy a great deal. Wonderful review, Tracy!

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

I do like short stories like this... when they connect. Oh I really like the sound of this one. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Heather said...

I'm also not one for short story collections, but this one does sound good. The collections I have enjoyed, always have had something to tie the stories together, and a watch would do it.

Brian Joseph said...

I often enjoy g a group of tales that are connected to an object. The symbolism of the object being a watch sounds near perfect. It sounds as if the characters s are also interesting in these stories.

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I want to read more short stories...I like how these are all related somehow. Seems interesting!

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Tracy,

Like many of your previous commenters, I am not generally a huge fan of the short story, although a couple I have read as author review requests, have really surprised me with their quality and rather changed my perception of the genre.

This book sounds like an exceptionally competent example of the short story, with some quality, in-depth writing and very well constructed for a debut novel.

Given the authors profession as a journalist, I guess the short story model works well for his style of writing and the linking stories almost sound like the chapters of a full length novel.

I have definitely added this one to my reading list, thanks for the feature and great review.

Hope that your weekend is going well so far.

Yvonne.

Alexia561 said...

I love short stories, and this collection sounds fascinating! Also really like the cover. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention!

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

I prefer short stories that are intertwined- and this collection sounds enticing. I am curious about the timepiece and the characters whose lives it is a part of for a period of time. Thanks for letting us know about this one. :)

Lindsay said...

What a clever idea to connect the stories, I like the sound of this. And I do like stories to have a twist to them, especially short stories.

Charlie (The Worm Hole) said...

I'm looking forward to reading this so I'm glad to hear it's good. I liked the idea of the connecting short stories also. Well done on What's In A Name!

Joy Weese Moll (@joyweesemoll) said...

Hopping over from the What's in a Name challenge. I'm not normally a short story reader, but this construct sounds fascinating!