Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I found this collection to be a bit uneven. Only a few of the stories resonated, and the rest fell short for me, Also, the overwhelming theme of the collection seemed to be unhappiness and bitterness, which makes it a difficult book to enjoy. (To be clear, I'm will read about unhappiness if it serves a purpose, but I couldn't see its purpose here). I won't be recommending this collection to friends.

Thank you to Borough Press for a review copy via NetGalley for my unbiased review.

I've enjoyed a lot of Lionel Shriver's writing, and this was the same - up until the last story!

I really enjoyed the characters and scenarios of the first stories, and eagerly read on.

The last story however (about Sara, an American in Northern Ireland) both annoyed and bored me, and after slogging through the first half, I skipped to the end, somewhat hoping that the rather long short story might be hiding another after it.

Lionel Shriver writes ten very satisfying short stories, and two equally enjoyable novellas in Property: A Collection. I’m a big fan of short stories, but I find that there is often at least one in a collection that’s less satisfying than the rest. I didn’t experience this at all in Property.

Property in every sense of the word is what links these twelve stories, even though the characters themselves are all very different. They have the ability to make the reader laugh, cringe, and feel their anger and sadness.

I love how Shriver writes, and I always look forward to getting stuck in to one of her books. I actually listened to this on XigXag audiobooks, and Shriver read it herself (she has a great reading voice, by the way).

If you like short stories, you may well enjoy this.

I do realise that Shriver has some questionable opinions, and this has put me off reviewing this book, and to be honest I don’t share any of her opinions on sexuality. I suppose this is a question of: do we stop reading someone’s work if we don’t agree with their opinions? There are so many other authors out there who keep any potentially controversial and frankly harmful opinions to themselves, and we may never know what they think. And in some ways, I’m grateful for that. What I’ve heard and read from Shriver herself has certainly given me pause for thought, and I think I will probably be choosing other authors in the future. To be fair, I read so much, and there are so many other writers out there who write just as well and better. I just don’t think that I can support someone with such opinions. I doubt my decision will have any effect at all, but it makes me feel better about where my money is going. The thing is, if I look too deeply in to the backgrounds of any number of authors, what would I find? Who knows? If it wasn’t for social media, I’d be happily reading in my ignorance, but is that the right thing to do?

For what it’s worth (probably not much), I’ll just stick to my own decision, and leave everyone else to decide what they want to do.

Propery by Lionel Shriver is a collection of short stories by the hugely talented author with short stories set in UK and USA, this is a fascinating and thought provoking set of stories.

I am not a huge fan of short stories. This book was beautifully written but still wasn’t to my taste.
Perfect for fans of short story collections

This wasn’t the book for me. It wasn’t what I hoped. Not what I expected. I couldn’t give it a chance. It’s not something I would read

This was actually my first Lionel Shriver. Since requesting this book obviously there have been lots of controversial articles but the writing is good.

I'm not always a fan of short-story collections, but enjoyed this one. An excellent book to dip in and out of if you're short of time.

Will look out for more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

As a fan of much of Lionel Shriver's work, I was very excited to get this book of short stories, themed around property. Comprising novellas and short stories, the book covers the topic of property, whether in terms of bricks and mortar, or in terms of owning each other. The opening novella, The Standing Chandelier, is a highlight. Although linked with a theme, the stories cover a huge range of characters and locations, and I really loved this collection, told with Shriver's usual deadpan humour.

I must admit that I didn't enjoy Lionel Shriver's other works however I wanted to give a book of short stories a chance. I read them in order and it took me about 50% of the book to find my groove with her style. By the end though I was, if not hooked , then at least interested so I went back and re-read the first half of the book again with fresh eyes and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the book the second time around. I'm sure previous fans will enjoy this book anyway but I'd bet that previous readers who haven't found Shriver to their taste might actually find something in this collection that they like. I'm even tempted to give Kevin another go. Third time lucky? I might like it more this time. Property is definitely worth a look. You never know, you might like it too!

This is my first experience of Lionel Shriver and I must admit, I am impressed.
I started off in two minds about the elaborate writing style, but in the end it won me over.

It started with ‘The Standing Chandelier’ and I was about as uncertain about the Novella as Baba is about what he wants for breakfast. I started off not enjoying the style, but that shortly changed to admiration for the unique qualities both the style and the characters possessed. This enjoyment continued right until it was expectantly severed (much like Frisk and Baba’s friendship) when the story simply ceased. On hindsight though, I suppose there was simply no other way, which just reminds me of the pure sadness that underlined the whole journey.

With this new found appreciation for Shriver’s writing style, I moved on from ‘The Standing Chandelier’ to the tender ‘The Self-Seeding Sycamore’, the quirky ‘Domestic Terrorism’ (‘bedroom barnacle’, love it), and a neat little combination of the two in ‘Royal Male’.

‘Exchange Rates’ packed a heart wrenching punch that reminds us of the intricacies of familial relationships and how trivial we can be, despite the fragility of our existence. Likewise, ‘The Chapstick’ explores a family son relationship in the light of death, whilst the strange coming of age (and death) story told in ‘Kilifi Creek’ further stimulates an appreciation for life and the difference a moment of ineptitude can make.

‘Repossession’ gets a little supernatural, whilst ‘Negative Equity’ was imbued with the same quirkiness and originality that I have come to love in Shriver’s short story deliveries. ‘Vermin’ manages to squeeze into a few pages the innocent joy, love, and eventual heartbreak a couple experience, whilst ‘Paradise to Perdition’ explores regretted choices.

The collection is cleverly bookended by two Novellas, the last of which provides a neat finish to the collection. I would still say that at times I still feel that the grammar is unnecessarily extravagant, and particularly in the last story, in regards to the politics, was unnecessarily convoluted. However, I appreciate it is this exact writing style that so complements the essence of the stories. It’s just that in the last novella I felt myself drifting away more than I would like to have.

Regardless, I really enjoyed this collection and will commit Shriver’s name to memory.

Tedious, overlong short stories without a point. Not poorly written but the prose does not hook you at all and there's nothing to this wannabe literary stories to make you want to keep reading. Wouldn't recommend to anyone, anywhere, for any reason.

Lionel Shriver has an incredible way with words, you are just pulled in to the books.
I will definitely be reading more by this author in future.

Not really the sort of book to sit down and read through, but definitely worth dipping into between other reading, as the stories are generally sharp, interesting and engaging. However I did find some of the writing rather slow and ponderous at times and made me grateful not to be in the middle of a longer work by this author. Not really my type of reading, but interesting to find this out.

This is an intelligent book - from the language, to the character observations and even the clever sub-title (it really is short stories sandwiched between two novellas!). Few people are able to form characters like Shriver, she catches their nuances, their foibles and their strengths, and this makes their behaviour and motivations all the more believable. Some of the stories are little bloated and could've benefited from a trim, and I'm a keen reader with a good vocabulary, but I found myself reaching for the dictionary a but too much - I like the philosophy of keeping prose clear and easily understandable, not attempt to impress the reader with the breadth of your language. Still, very enjoyable, and highly recommended. 5 out of 5!

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. I’m a fan of Shriver even though I get the impression she can be a bit of a literary snob. But she can write so I’m willing to overlook some flaws. I enjoyed the two novellas The Standing Chandelier and The Subletter the most. The Standing Chandelier is the best. I loved every word. I thought The Subletter was going to be much darker than it was but I still had a great time reading it. Each story is about home and ownership and how this can affect lives, mostly in a negative way. My favourite stores from the rest were Domestic Terrorism and Vermin.

Looking for a book to dip in and out of, rather than devote whole sunny afternoons to? This collection of short stories and novellas might be the answer. If you want fast-paced action and loathe long passages of description, it’s probably not for you. If you enjoy wry humour, detailed characterisation and stories that you’re still pondering about hours later, it’s well worth a look.

My first introduction to Lionel Shriver was in an AS-level English class, where the theme of our reading was Nature vs. Nurture. We Need to Talk About Kevin became a focal point of the whole year as it seemed to withstand the curse of assigned reading by actually fascinating everyone. That book introduced me to the power of Shriver’s writing and especially to her ability to put the uncomfortable in the spotlight and force everyone to look at it. So of course I jumped at the opportunity to read Property: A Collection when I first saw it. Thanks to HarperCollins, The Borough Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The title of this collection is perfect, because all the stories in Property come down to ownership. Who owns what and how does that change and define us. But the stories are not just about physical property, they are also about how we own ourselves and others. There is a self-contentedness in many of Shriver’s younger characters that drive others wild. Why are you content with what you have and who you are, take some ownership of your actions, acknowledge the effect you’re having on others! (These are just some of things I wanted to shout at a few of Shriver’s characters.) Shriver has been a difficult writer for me to engage with ever since her column in the Spectator in which she lambasted the push for diversity in publishing and pushed back against “PC censorship”. That, in my opinion, narrow view contrasts sharply with the emotional intelligence of her writing, in which she articulates so clearly the topics most of us avoid. Perhaps this is why she chose to focus on the “PC culture”, but whether you agree with her or not, there is no denying that Property is a very engaging read.

The highlight of Property is the opening story, more of a novella really, ‘The Standing Chandelier’, which shows the development of a decades-long friendship between the artistic, if a bit airy-fairy, Jillian and her ex-lover Baba, who is in the process of getting settled. Shriver moves between their points of view and it is almost heartbreaking how clear it becomes that their close relationship is untenable. We can’t own the other, no matter how much of ourselves we give. Another highlight, of a different kind, is the story ‘Domestic Terrorism’, in with a 32-year old son, Liam, simply refuses to own his own life. When his parents finally kick him out the story almost descends into a farce, but Shriver’s sharp writing keeps it on the knife’s edge, bringing in political commentary on the refugee crisis and millennials (which you can read whichever way you want) as well as a close look at how family interacts. ‘Vermin’ is another favourite of mine, in which the sheer fact of house ownership drastically changes the story’s characters. Imagery-wise, this is one of the most beautiful stories in the collection for me. Not all stories in Property are equally effective. Both ‘From Paradise to Perdition’ and ‘The ChapStick’, for example, feel preachy, but in completely different ways. It feels like Shriver has an ax to grind, but with what or who exactly isn’t entirely clear.

There is a calmness to Shriver’s prose that I find myself enjoying. She is the kind of storyteller who knows exactly how ridiculous what she is describing is, but she never ruins the joke by laughing herself. Many of her stories are concerned with big emotional moments in people’s lives, yet Shriver avoids the melodrama that sometimes suffuses such stories. The only time she fails to do so is when she is trying to make a point, like mentioned above. That is when the stories lose some of their strength for me, when they become vehicles for something other than themselves. However, in general there is a clarity there that allows her to get very close to her characters’ emotions without letting them overwhelm the story. There are many laugh out loud moments in Property and many of Shriver's characters are unlikable, yet it is compelling reading nonetheless.

Shriver is a great writer and the stories in Property are a great analysis of just how tied down we are by what we own, whether it is an object, a relationship or even just a feeling. Even if Shriver's personal beliefs sometimes bleed into the stories, they remain mostly fascinating.

Property is a collection of short stories and novellas on the theme of property. Each story though is unique and written in the author's incomparable style. A worthy addition to her collection of literary works.