Author: Kendra Winchester

When I finished “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak,” the title story and last one in the collection, I had to take a moment to process Jamil Jan Kochai’s stunning method of storytelling. Like every good short story collection, each story stands on its own, but they also all work together to give readers broader themes and ideas. 

The first story, “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” features a teenaged Afghan American boy mesmerized by a video game where the primary goal is to run successful missions in Afghanistan, shooting Soviet soldiers along the way. Another story, “Bakhtawara and Miriam” features women caught in the time of life of love and marriage, having to make the tough choices of who to marry and where that choice will take them. In “Occupational Hazards,” we follow a man who immigrates from Afghanistan to America, whose story is told through the different job descriptions from the various occupations he’s had over the decades.

All of these stories, and the rest in the collection, center Afghan and Afghan American protagonists whose lives have been deeply impacted by the war in Afghanistan. Whether it’s living through the violence of war themselves or being raised by someone who was, each character’s trajectory in life has been impacted by America’s War on Terror.

Kochai’s stories also carry a sense of the surreal or absurd. In “The Tale of Dully’s Reversion,” a student teacher turns into a monkey, and his mother takes him back to Afghanistan to pray to a saint so he might be turned back into a man. Characters make seemingly ridiculous decisions only to have even more absurd outcomes. But all of these events push the characters to new limits and move the stories forward.

It’s difficult to not become entranced by these tales, each more gripping than the last — I ended up reading them all in one sitting! So if you’re looking for  a must-read short story collection of 2022, this is it.

Candice Carty-Williams, the author of Queenie, is back with her second novel, People Person. Cyril Pennington’s greatest love is his gold jeep, which might explain why he’s never been able to settle down. At the opening of the novel, we meet Cryril’s five children, and their four mothers, as he picks up each of them for a drive about the neighborhood. After Cyril drops them all off at home again, they aren’t all in the same place again for almost a decade.

Years later, Dimple Pennington, the sensitive middle sibling, finds herself in a tough spot. She seems to have accidentally killed her on-again-off-again boyfriend. Frantically, she calls her older sister, and before long all of her brothers and sisters show up to help get rid of the body. What’s worse: she’s been trying to make it as an online influencer for years, and her entire following (small though it may be) know far too much about her relationship with her boyfriend already. 

This family drama is delightfully over the top in all of the best ways. Hilarity ensues as Dimple continues to find herself in trouble, unable to keep herself from saying the exact wrong thing. This novel also has a lot of heart. Cyril immigrated to the UK as a young man, setting out to make a new life for himself. After a death in his family, the five Pennington siblings find themselves surrounded by their dad’s family, people they barely know.

And if you’re an audiobook fan, People Person is phenomenal on audio. Danielle Vitalis’ performance is perfect. While I was listening, I couldn’t stop laughing. The dialogue in particular shines throughout the whole novel, and Vitalis narrates each character in a way that makes each of them stand out.

The novel begins in 2013 with jazz musician Circus Palmer playing a gig in Miami when his lover, Maggie, tells him she’s pregnant. Horrified that she seems to intend to keep it, he storms off, leaving Maggie behind to figure things out on her own.

In the ensuing chapters, we see many different perspectives, all women who are in some way part of Circus’ life. There’s his ex-wife who still carries a torch for him even though he cheated on her more times than she can count. Circus’ daughter Koko has given up ever truly understanding her father. There’s a bartender who can’t help but fall for Circus’ charm. A woman on the bus feels a strange attraction to Circus, who she’s never met before.

With each new woman’s story, we begin to see more and more of Circus’ personality. This multifaceted story is a type of character study of Circus told from the view of the women around him. Laura Warrell writes each perspective with incredible detail. Each woman’s voice sounds unique, with its own rhythm and cadence. I love the way you can tell she knows these characters inside and out. Even with Circus at the center of Warrell’s storytelling, the women are the stars of Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm.

Now, I’ll be honest, I have little patience for insufferable men. I just can’t help but roll my eyes to the ceiling when Circus treats yet another woman in his life with disdain. But over the course of the novel, we, the readers, begin to understand Circus, how he came to be the way he is. Circus is written as an intricate character, with so much depth and complexity. I think that just goes to show how talented Laura Warrell is in her storytelling.

And if you’re an audiobook lover, Nicole Lewis narrates the novel with such incredible talent, performing each point of view in such a way that makes each perspective stand out, unique in its own way.

In 7th century Ireland, Artt, a scholar and a priest, arrives at a monastery looking for two monks to join him in a divine mission: Artt believes that God has told him to create a haven on an uninhabited island where he and his two companions can create a place devoted solely to copying manuscripts of the scriptures and focusing on heavenly things.

At the monastery, Artt chooses two monks to accompany him: Trian, a young monk barely into adulthood, and Cormac, an older man who was a builder and converted late in life. The three of them sail down the river and out into the sea, looking for the perfect place to settle. They find an island inhabited solely by nesting puffins and other seabirds. During the spring and summer, the three find ways to survive on the land. But Artt keeps insisting their time should be spent copying scripture, not satisfying their own needs. As winter looms, a very bedraggled Trian and Cormac are forced to wonder if their leader has actually led them to their inevitable demise.

To me, Haven read as if Lauren Groff’s Matrix had paired with Gary Paulsen’s The Hatchet. These three men are forced to make dwellings, find food, and create clothes with very little supplies to speak of, and Donoghue describes how they use the meager resources around them in great detail. I felt endlessly fascinated as they made torches from the oil of water birds and learned to cook the meager food they found on the island.

Donoghue possesses a deep understanding of her characters, each one of the men well-rounded and fleshed out. And as the tension rises between them, Trian and Cormac are forced to make some incredibly difficult decisions.

When Leah returns from her expedition to one of the deepest parts of the ocean, she’s different. Miri, Leah’s wife, watches as Leah barely eats and spends far too much time in the bath. Miri can’t put her finger on it, but somehow, Leah has completely changed.

As we learn more about Leah and Miri in the present, we get flashbacks of Leah and her crew getting stuck under the sea for months, unable to resurface due to a malfunction on their submarine. The crew is isolated, and soon, they begin seeing things in the darkness of the ocean. We also get flashbacks of Miri and Leah’s love story, learning about how they met and some of their most intimate moments. It’s a beautiful portrait of a marriage that may not have a happy ending.

It’s difficult to describe the sinister feeling that Armfield evokes with her prose. It’s somehow both creepy and romantic. As we learn more about Miri and Leah’s relationship, we also get moments of bodily horror as Leah’s body changes from her time down in the depths of the ocean. Armfield’s strength is the depth of character she’s able to achieve with both Leah and Miri. They each are such vibrant characters; we, as readers, fall in love with them too.

Armfield’s prose is gorgeous, incredibly intimate. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think about beautiful writing when I think about horror writing. Armfield subverts expectations, turning our expectations on their heads as she gives us glimpses into these characters’ lives.

If you love audiobooks, I have to recommend Annabel Baldwin’s and Robyn Holdaway’s performances on the audio editions. It made me feel like they were doing a two-woman show, taking turns performing monologues from Leah’s and Miri’s perspectives.