This was a thoroughly enjoyable short story collection. Carson has great insight into the everyday, human nature and the characteristics of relationships. She writes each of these stories with distinctive narrative voices ensuring each stays with you in its own unique way. I love her wry Irish humour and her observations of people. The stories were quirky and interesting reflecting Irish identity in all of its complexity, beauty and flaws. Would highly recommend.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Reading Jan Carson's short stories is like travelling to the Belfast of the 80s, and then to a parallel Northern Ireland somewhere in the future, and then back to present day. The characters are real and grotesque at the same time, the stories are saturated with faith, tradition, transgenerational trauma, family drama and small town gossip. Each story is so believable and lifelike, yet having that weird twist that makes you hold your breath. A great collection indeed.

A delightful collection of short stories with a strong Northern Irish voice. A great mix of witty, irreverant and somewhat bizzare characters, this was a good read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This short story collection had so much to love in it. The characters really sprang to life even in the short space they had, and every story had its own individual voice that made each one unique. I loved the setting, the humour and a lot of the characters, as well as loving to hate others.
My one issue is that the first third or so, lots of the stories ended and left me feeling unsatisfied. I had thought I would end up not liking the collection overall but something kept me going back for more, and I'm glad I did, because I got so much out of it. I think the endings get stronger as the collection progresses, but each and every one has a gem in there somewhere.

I read, reviewed and relished Jan Carson's novel ‘The Raptures’ way back in 2022. So I jumped at the chance read this.

’Quickly, While They Still Have Horses’ is a collection of 16 short stories – and I do love a short story – covering a wide range of topics.

From sibling rivalry over the contents of a Family Circle biscuit tin to the healing power of a lady who attends a public swimming pool, each of the short tales here packs a punch.

There are of course some personal favourites for me out of the 16 – and in no particular order, they are:

Grand So – a car is bought to drive around Ireland selling a family's Jam but the vehicle comes with an unexpected passenger. But why?

Fair Play – A nightmare in a Soft Play.

Quickly, While They Still Have Horses – relationship troubles abound but could a visit to visit one of the last horses in the world be the solution?

Victor Soda – a gent prepares young woman of the town for their marriage bed!

Pillars – the Pillars are rarely mentioned and when one is delivered to recently separated Elaine she has no idea what to do.

Family Circle – does what it says on the tin. Two feuding brothers play life or death with the contents of a biscuit tin.

Caravan – never lie to your children.

Jellyfish – why are jellyfish suddenly appearing all over the house? Only Malcolm knows…

As these are short stories, there's no way to explain them all without giving it all away but I'd thoroughly recommend picking this collection up.

There's a lot to digest here. So whether you dip in now and then or consume at once, there's a plethora of tales here to keep you entertained but also be prepared to have your heart ripped out.

A new collection of short stories from. Jan Carson who weaves a magic wand to hook the reader to these highly relatable stories, From jelly fish in the garden to the last horse in Ireland, Irish picnics and wild swimming to a mysteriously reappearing red hand. Grounded and told with the author's signature authentic colloquial idioms, with a sprinkling of the fantastical. These stories are interesting, varied and addictive.

Jan Carson writes Northern Ireland. This collection of short stories, 'Quickly, While They Still Have Horses', is every bit as captivating as her previous novels and is deeply rooted in place and time. One to read!

Quick While They Still Have Horses by Jan Carson is a totally unique reading experience! Jan’s stories are varied but more often than not rooted in Ulster traditions or peculiarities. With an eye for the slightly absurd, these stories are funny, unpredictable, emotional and intensely entertaining. Highly recommended reading.

I’d previously read two of Jan Carson’s novels and also listened to some of her short stories on the radio - I find her writing style really distinctive and her take on things consistently interesting. So I was certainly keen to read a full collection of her short stories, especially one with such an intriguing title.

In fact, the title story contains some of the threads that run throughout this selection and which made the book enjoyable and thought-provoking for me. Her depiction of Belfast, not least as seen through the eyes of outsiders, is something at which Carson excels and the city is explored in particularly interesting ways in ‘Fair Play’ and ‘Mostly People Just Throw Bricks’. One gets a sense of the place as quirky, complex, at times perhaps rather grim, but always charming enough in its own way, and against this backdrop, relationships and family dynamics are cleverly and sensitively captured in several tales, my favourites perhaps being ‘In the Car with the Rain Coming Down’ and the heartbreaking ‘Caravan’. The latter of these two, alongside ‘Victor Soda’ and ‘A Certain Degree of Ownership’, stood out for me because of the author’s ability to generate tension and suspense - the reader is disturbed at what seems about to unfold - whilst keeping a deceptively light (even gently humorous) tone. This is something I particularly like about Jan Carson’s style. She often employs a breezy, generally comic register, but is also addressing some weighty, meaningful subjects, such as grief (‘Jellyfish’, ‘Tinged’), the legacy of conflict (‘One Hander’), mental health (‘Pillars’) or the status of women in conservative societies (‘Victor Soda’). There are few authors who succeed in maintaining this tricky high-wire act quite so deftly.

Another balance which Carson seems particularly good at striking is that between critiquing the more problematic aspects of the north of Ireland and its people, whilst also demonstrating genuine warmth and love for it/them. This is something I had previously been aware of when reading her work (especially her novel ‘The Raptures’, which has quite a lot in common with some of the stories in this collection) and again greatly enjoyed in this new book.

In sum, if you’ve read some of Carson’s work and enjoyed the magical realist elements within it, you will be glad to hear there’s still some of that present. And if you’ve read some of her work before and didn’t enjoy the magical realist elements within it, you will be glad to hear it’s somewhat toned down in this collection. Highly recommended, overall.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Every time I sit down with a Jan Carson book I know I am in for a treat, and this short story collection is no different. The opening story, A Certain Degree of Ownership, blew my mind, keeping me on tenterhooks until the very end. It is an excellent beginning to what becomes a near perfect collection.

Taking place mostly in Northern Ireland the stories vary in content but not in quality. Jan’s writing is as usual great throughout. I spread my reading over time, trying to read one story every few days, as I felt the need to fully digest each story individually.

Grand So is an example of a great story, seemingly about nothing more than trying to sell jam, that fast becomes a viewpoint of reality in Northern Ireland during the troubles. In Victor Soda we meet a young woman, who has fallen for a local lad. She now knows it is time for her to meet the mysterious Victor – just like every other woman in the community has had to. But what could Victor possibly want?

Two of my favourites are the title story Quickly While They Still Have Horses which tells the story of a Northern Irishman living in London who just cannot get his girlfriend to visit Belfast. Until, that is, they hear that they still have horses there.

The other is the story of Bat – a boy who got his nickname because he is blind. I don’t want to ruin anything here. I just thought it was brilliantly worked.

Even though I have chosen a couple to name drop here I think the collection is excellent as a whole. I highly recommend you check it out. It’s official release (I believe) is April 4th. So not long to wait!

I am so, so obsessed with Jan Carson. Her novels (and now her short stories) are so fun, so strange and absolutely captivating.

I loved this collection of stories, all with some sort of dark humour or twist, and all reflecting life in N Ireland with such realism in the midst of surreal characters and plots.

I whizzed through reading this, as each story has a compulsive quality while also having some beautiful, quiet details. I will return to the collection and think some would be great to teach.

i really liked jan carson's first book, the rapture, and was hoping for something similar which it was in a way! short story collections are always a bit hit and miss in terms of enjoyment - i really liked the one with the ghost in the back of the car. would read more by jan carson!

Fantastic collection! Thought-provoking, engaging to the point of being addictive, sometimes shocking! Some stories stand out more than others but all of them showcase what a talented writer Jan Carson is (and I cannot believe I have not heard of her before!). This is a perfect mix of sad, hopeful, surreal and horrifying stories (all have something to do with Northern Ireland and Belfast). I loved this collection!

I finished my ARC and immediately went to check if this was already published as I really want to have a copy of “Quickly, While They Still Have Horses” on my shelf.

I thought this would be a great book to just pick and put down as time allowed, which is usually why I would read short stories in between novels, but it turns out that it was far too addictive. It's a really fantastic collection. Some stories stand out more than others, which is just a personal reaction, but they're all incredibly well written and engrossing. There is a perfect mix of very real stories and ones with that go beyond the veil of reality so there's something for everyone. As always with this author, it's the people and their reactions that are the strength of the stories. I loved it.

'Quickly, While They Still Have Horses' by Jan Carson is a collection of 16 short stories, all set in the North of Ireland. I really enjoyed the inventiveness and imagination of her previous books, so was looking forward to reading this.

North of Ireland
There's a lot of focus on the North of Ireland in the news cycle at present. There hasn't been a government for two years because one of the parties didn't get their own way so pulled out of shared authority. The result has been the collapse of the health services, public services crumbling, and strike action because there's no one willing to pay the workers a wage they can live on. This is the glum reality of the place.

It mostly feels like a forgotten backwater. Some of the 'politicians' and media would make you believe that other governments cared about it. They don't. Like the majority of the people, they just want to see a stable governance. The peace process was 25 years ago. The rest of the world has moved on, as have the folk who are sick to the back teeth of the intransigence of some of these politicians. Anyone with an interest in the place will know exactly who I'm referring to. I'm too bored of it to go into details.

Fair Play
What other people think about the place is the focus of a couple of stories in this collection. There's the English parent in 'Fair Play' set in a Belfast adventure playground, unimpressed with his wife's 'mid-ulster drawl'. He's not a fan of Belfast, which isn't as cosmopolitan as London, the old people are all 'born agains' and the place is full of deviant rule breakers. This story is a funny one with an ending that had me perplexed. You're never on firm ground with Jan Carson, and for me, this is very much a good thing.

Riots are about the only time Journalists venture over to the North, as is the case in 'Most People Just Throw Bricks' when a baby doll thrown over a peace line makes the mainstream newspapers. The boyfriend bringing his Spanish girlfriend over from England to see a strange exhibit in the book's title story is anxious about what she'll think. He's right, as she thinks the people looked like 'potatoes round the face, all pasty-skinned and lumpy'. Even the rain disappoints her. The weather also takes a turn during 'In the car with the rain coming down' as the author really captures those bristling family tensions as they eat a picnic out the back of a car.

Firestarters and The Raptures
I've been a fan of Jan Carson since I first read 'The Firestarters and then 'The Raptures’ in 2022. Those books are also very much rooted in the north but there's a fantastical element to them. I find her writing vivid and inventive, and her stories often put me in that space where I'm trying to make sense of them in my head, but not sure if I can, or sometimes even meant to. It's a place as a reader I really like to be in.

'The troubles' makes an appearance in 'Grand So' when a previous car owner refuses to budge from the back seat of his 1982 Sierra. This is a cause of concern for the young girl in the passenger seat, as she's the only one who can see him. This is only the time the collection travels out of County Antrim, venturing south to 'bandit country'.

Faith is another theme and appears in stories such as 'Troubling the Water' set in Templemore baths, and 'Tinged' when faith healing is ok with animals but not humans. It was hard not to think of the black mirror when reading 'Pillars.'


Identity and Tradition
And of course, identity is contested in the north, a theme explored in 'One Hander.' Laura opens the fridge door to find a severed hand on the shelf where she keeps her cheese and margarine. This one is about the legacy of family history from the conflict, and how you can't escape it. Laura can't be any clearer; 'The North would be much improved if the flags and symbols disappeared.' This one captures typical elements of Carson's writing - the absurd and fantastical, mixed with recurring realities of life in the North, where the past weighs heavy upon the present.

The majority of the stories are set in what would be to me the 'other' tradition. Some of the characters refer to 'the mainland', always a giveaway. There's the 'smells and bells' nonsense of mass, and Irish is a 'slippery, tingling kind of talk.' One character is 'the other sort' from the 'Free state'. Carson does such a good job of capturing the suspicion and mistrust in everyday terms and language. It's never far away.

Of course, as in any collection, I have a couple of favourites. 'Jellyfish' is about a woman dealing with her broken husband and the grief they share. This one crept up on me a bit and caught me unaware, I found it both odd and moving. And I really liked 'Caravan' which is set in one of those endless summers you experienced as a child when you needed a project to absorb you. It also looks at that moment when you begin to consider your parents as fallible beings, and they slip from the pedestal you'd placed them upon. Of course, I knew this from 'The Raptures,' but Carson captures those coming-of-age moments so well.

Speaking of caravans, there's a static one in 'Victor Soda' that both the wee girl telling the story and the reader approach with trepidation. There's an uneasiness to some of the stories, and I'm thinking about those that bookend the collection, such as the openers 'A Certain Degree of Ownership' and 'Family Circle' as they both involve small children. There's a darkness there, an uncomfortable feeling. I liked how Carson imbues some of her stories with an underlying anxiety, taking the reader to places they'd prefer not to be.

Short Storys
I don't read enough short story collections, something I decided to rectify with my reading challenge. I'd sit down and decide I was only reading one from this collection, but it was too easy to say 'ach I'll have one more,' like a packet of my favourite biscuits. Other times there were stories with a darker edge, or left me slightly confused and not sure how I felt, and I had to put the book down and let it linger. I'm perfectly fine with both of these outcomes.

It's a tribute to the skill of Jan Carson that when you start a story, you really don't know which way it's going. Lots of themes are explored that are central to life in the North and the author has such a rich imagination, and I was happy to spend time in these worlds and with the characters. There's a lot of humour throughout and I found a couple of the stories moving. It's obviously a form that Carson excels at - I always felt that she had complete control of these stories and knew exactly where she was taking the reader. I was happy to go there.


Summary
Being from the North, many of these people, places, and themes were familiar to me. But there's another world here beneath the surface, just out of reach - shadier, fanciful recesses. Jan Carson takes the glum reality of the place and injects it with the fantastical. Sometimes dark, quirky, occasionally absurd, and always inventive and readable, there's a great range of stories in this fine collection from one of my favourite modern Irish writers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for the Advanced Reader Copy.

This is a compulsively readable collection of short stories - all set in Northern Ireland, detailing everything from grief, religion, superstitions, symbolism, family ties, among other things.

Each story was so beautifully written, and haunting in its own unique way. Some stories are incredibly realistic, whereas others reach further out towards the unreal - brushing upon ghosts, healing swimming baths, and vanishing children.

My personal favourites were Grand So, Fair Play, Jellyfish, Troubling the Water, and Family Circle. I’m, frankly, still reeling from them. Sometimes I’ll read through a short story collection and know that I’ll barely be able to recollect any of the stories a week down the line - in this case, I know that the majority of these stories have firmly lodged themselves into my memory. It is a brilliant collection of wonderfully written, emotive, short stories.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

A collection of short stories from the fertile mind of Jan Carson, this is a fascinating and at times haunting collection. With fabulous use of language from colloquial, turns of phrase to flights of magic realism, these stories cover a myriad of different subjects. Some of the down to earth stories are the most haunting, the father in Caravan is a familiar Northern Irish figure, clumsily using teasing humour to connect and 'teach'. Jellyfish is another story that stays long after reading. This collection is to be read slowly, individually and maybe not at night, else you'll have nightmares about soft play ballpits.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Jan Carson's 'The Raptures' and I'm a huge short story fan so I was really looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. Confronting, unusual, funny, touching and bizarre, there's a huge range of human emotion and perspective covered here, including a few trips into the supernatural that may be familar to those who've read Carson's novel. Highly recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Quickly, While They Still Have Horses by Jan Carson is a well written collection of short stories. I did like some more than others but on the whole I really enjoyed them.