Thanks to Harper Collins and Lionel Shriver for the opportunity to review this book. I adored We Need to Talk about Kevin so was so excited to read and review this book , a collection of short stories. While I am not a big fan of short story collections I was pleasantly surprised by this book, Shriver manages to capture the readers attention with a mix of likeable and unlikeable characters. The title Property was brilliant and fitting. Each story left me thinking and my favourite had to be the Chandelier piece. One to read and easily digestable in bite sized chunks for during the week reading.

Like many, I read and enjoyed the author's previous bestselling novel and despite knowing the hit or miss nature of short stories I took a punt. I'm glad that I did as Shriver seems to have an uncanny knack for writing engaging prose about oftentimes flawed, unlikeable people. The Standing Chandelier in particular was a pleasure to read, with thoughtful passages that fired the imagination.

What I liked less were some perspectives that I admit made me recall some less than savoury comments by the author herself. I questioned the point of view that gave us a suburban refugee in the story Domestic Terrorism for instance, made slightly uncomfortable at the juxtaposition considering how our real world suffering refugees are definitely not treated to tents and snacks. In The Subletter I was struck also by an observation that the dialogue in a book 'would be riddled with apostrophes and quaint respellings' when I felt quite the same way about the heavy handed foreign dialect treatment in another story, Paradise To Perdition. Despite the occasional seemingly tone deaf moments Property is an excellent book.

PROPERTY

BY

LIONEL SHRIVER


Not usually a fan of short stories this writer’s reputation drew me to this volume of her short fiction. The title is enigmatic ad there are many connotations to the word property. The stories here look at the concept of the title from a variety of angles. i
Intriguing characters, few of them endearing, are finely depicted and in this author’s fairly tight style of writing, varied and interesting.
Jillian featured in the first tale, lonely desperate to be liked, utilising her craft made items she weaves a tantalising web in an effort to attract admirers. Spooky, amusing and rather sad but sufficiently interesting to encourage the reader to continue. And a worthwhile journey it proves to be.
A prolifically seeding sycamore overpowers a garden and a new home destroys and rearranges items and decor while owner is absent, leaving her freshly painted walls bubbling up in horrible colours. Not a comfortable read, there is a chilling theme running through the book.
‘Negative Equity’ the final tale was the closest to light reading. These are not lighthearted tales to pick up at bedtime, rather they are chillingly spooky but they are gripping and so wonderfully written as one would expect from this very talented author.

A collection of short stories and novellas by Lionel Shriver (she of We Need to Talk About Kevin fame), all with the common theme of ownership, Property is a mixed bag. Stories with deep characterisation and compelling content are peppered with others that don’t really make the grade, and one which I found so poor that it was a chore to finish.

Shriver’s characters are flawed and imperfect people who, if real, you wouldn’t like in the slightest. Her greatest skill as an author is in making you care about these characters despite this, and on the whole, she manages just that.

The novellas mark the beginning and end of the book. The first of these, The Standing Chandelier, is an excellent tale of enduring friendship and the consequences of introducing a third party to the mix. The property in question is ostensibly the chandelier of the title, but the story is really concerned with the emotional ownership of friends and lovers.

A few of the short stories stood out for me. The Self-Seeding Sycamore is a short but sweet tale of rediscovery of self, Exchange Rates warns of the consequences of holding a grudge, while Domestic Terrorism explores the issue of adult children not wanting to or being able to afford to fly the parental nest.

Unfortunately, The Subletter - the novella that caps off the collection - is (for me, at least) by far the worst story in the book. Even with deliberately unlikable characters, a reader needs somebody to attach to, even if it’s just a case that one person is less awful than the other. I must admit, if I hadn’t been reading the book for review, I would have skipped this after reading the first five or ten pages. I very rarely don’t finish a book or story, so my inclination to give up goes to show how poor The Subletter was. It was a shame that this was the last in the book, as my dislike of it has coloured my perception of the collection overall.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This series of short (and not so short) stories is a mixed bag. Some are great, others less so and some not at all.
There's no disputing that they are well written, but, I found the prose a little too verbose at times.

It's a clever idea, that of 'property' being the theme throughout all stories and it's an interesting collection from this established author..
Overall, worth a look.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

I like to read books of short stories for the variety they give - and this book certainly has variety. The variety in this case is very mixed indeed. Personally I did not enjoy the first and last stories, which are both novellas, as they were rather rambling and tedious. In complete contrast the shorter stories in-between these two were excellent
They were concise, kept the interest engaged and were extremely entertaining. Therefore I found this book to be like the curate's egg - good in parts.

A collection of thought provoking short stories. The two novellas are really good and the other stories are a little short but still worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A collection of short stories on the theme of property, in its widest sense. These are all consciously crafted. Each sentence must take an age to write. The language is beautiful and precise. But......sometimes at the expense of character or engagement with the narrative.
Definitely better read with a break between each one. Enjoy for the sheer quality of the writing.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

I find a lot of short story collections hit or miss and Property definitely falls into that category. I have read all of Lionel Shriver's other books and was really looking forward to this. They're all on the theme of property but quite different stories. It's hard to really get a handle on any of them as they are quite short. It's a very intellectual book but I felt like maybe it was a little too clever for me to really enjoy.

I have not read any of Shriver's books before, and I am not particularly fond of short stories. I found this series of short stories and two novellas, based on property and family, interesting on an intellectual level, but none of them stirred my emotions. The characters were all hard, the situations felt strangely transatlantic. They were very wordy and I skimmed many pages to get to the actual story behind most of these. They all had a period feel to me - a couple of them reminded me of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, which are very dated now. I re-read a couple of them to try to appreciate them more but unfortunately they are not for me.

A meaty, chewy, collection well worth spending a few quid on

A collection of 10 short stories sandwiched between 2 novellas. The common thread is property, both housing and possessions.

I've read several of Lionel Shriver's novels and so was intrigued to read this collection.

These stories are sharply observed and often acerbically, wryly, funny. She seems to enjoy building with words, to the point that sentences can seem overwritten. Some of the stories are based in the UK and occasionally Shriver is upended by English idiom; "thousands of quid" stands out in 2 of the stories.

I particularly appreciated Domestic Terrorism, about a 31 year old who has failed to launch from home, or to find a job, or to fend for himself in any way. My mother has a boomerang son...

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable collection. Though I found it necessary to pause between stories to digest them.