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New Horizons edition by Joanne Van Leerdam Literature Fiction eBooks

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New Horizons edition by Joanne Van Leerdam Literature Fiction eBooks

This book was settling and comforting in a way that I was not expecting. She must be a decent poet because her word choice and melody in this short form is astounding. No story is more than a handful of pages, and without counting, I'm sure some of them might be considered flash. One could read this book in under an hour as I did, or a story a day with your morning coffee.

I felt most of her tales were inspiring and left me wanting to know more about the characters, even the secondary. Each focuses on one character facing some kind of new beginning. Yawn all you want now, but there is some real depth here, and a kind of tease into the satisfaction of gossip or living vicariously.

Even small, supporting roles have their place and form here. Check out this excerpt from "Time Will Tell":

A nurse works at her station on the corner of the small, cool room, making notes: a silent witness of every dreadful moment.

I teach English at an orphanage and work with children who are often in and out of foster homes. The story "Rube" really hit home for me and I believe it to be my favorite. Sorry Joanne, that's favourite. This is the last line:

Heading for the railway station, Rube's stride was brash and confident, but the tune he hummed was melancholy.

"The Karma Train" was another good one and it had me thinking for a moment that these were all parables in a way, life lessons for the willing. There is a steady theme of starting over and moving on that is hard to get away from.

Then, I found it. The dark and twisted side of reality shown through and I was in my special, evil place. "Coward" knocked my socks off with its form and economy of words:

They all think I'm a coward. That I couldn't have done it. That I'd never fight back. But they're wrong.

"A Most Educational Quiz" was very clever in the telling, I even read it twice, once to my wife out loud.

"Lucy" was another tasty treat as we danced in the dark once again, sin and ambition.

So I'm pretty much going to read everything by Joanne Van Leerdam but she better tell me where I can get a physical copy of Stained Glass or I will pitch a fit and blame the local banker for the trouble. Her work is soothing, calm, yet it packs a punch that leaves you waiting for another turn at the potter's wheel.


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New Horizons edition by Joanne Van Leerdam Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

New Horizons features 16 short short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry works connected by the theme of how people react to a moment of change. Sometimes these are subtle, like a teacher showing kindness to a girl with a rotten cold, sometimes they’re more significant. A few have a dark edge. My favourite, Dead Lucky, was the one that concerned the ultimate change in life, told as a mundane but engrossing story about some missing paperwork. I read that one twice. Close second was Karma Train, which is a very clever tale with a twist.

It’s clear Joanne Van Leerdam is sometimes more concerned with the way the words go together than the plot. She is a poet after all. Many of the stories are brief impressions, less than a page, but together the 16 stories have a rhythm of their own, long, short, short and so forth, rather like someone transmitting Morse Code. I wondered if Joanne Van Leerdam had planted an Easter Egg in the text and was tempted to enter the dashes and dots into a Morse code translator to see what it spelled, but that would probably have me classified alongside people who believe there are aliens living amongst us.

As is typical for short story collections, I liked some more than others, but overall, it’s a good collection showcasing the author’s range and style.
There’s an old theatrical expression “Leave ‘em wanting more.” Joanne Van Leerdam does just that and more, if that’s possible, in her charming collection of short and short short or flash fiction New Horizons.
Diving into this gem, I felt breathless after reading the first two or three stories, “New Horizons,” “Montpelier,” and “Wednesday’s Child.” “Wait!” I shouted in my head. “What? That’s it?” I actually did that really stupid-nobody-really-does-this-in-real-life thing of turning my over to see if what? Something was hiding on the back? Something is hiding, all right, but it can be found in plain sight, writ large in Ms. Van Leerdam’s simple, economic, and gorgeous prose. The trick is to be ready. To slow down. To, yes, breathe, and perhaps, even, to read these pithy jewels twice. They are not hard; they require your attention.
As in any collection, some pieces will strike more than others. Having worked in my share of offices including medical, I had great empathy for Kate in “Dead Lucky.” It is remarkable how Ms. Van Leerdam can create such character depth with such economy of phrase. The reader is right there along-side her, sweating her dilemma out, feeling her panic rise.
“Mystery Man” leaves us guessing—wanting more. This short gives our imaginations a chance to create the future for Anna. What a wonderful exercise this would make in an English class! Again, in a few short pages a full-blown character leaps as Athena from the head of Zeus.
“Rube” is simply heartbreaking. We all know this child-man. A teenager thrown away with one foot in adulthood and the other in his tragically broken past.
“Karma Train” is quite simply every human being’s desire. Once, just once, I don’t think there’s a person on earth who hasn’t thought, “I wish that guy…” Perfect Twilight Zone episode.
I am now quite anxious to discover Ms. Leerdam’s poetry as well as her other work. I highly recommend you do the same.
This book was settling and comforting in a way that I was not expecting. She must be a decent poet because her word choice and melody in this short form is astounding. No story is more than a handful of pages, and without counting, I'm sure some of them might be considered flash. One could read this book in under an hour as I did, or a story a day with your morning coffee.

I felt most of her tales were inspiring and left me wanting to know more about the characters, even the secondary. Each focuses on one character facing some kind of new beginning. Yawn all you want now, but there is some real depth here, and a kind of tease into the satisfaction of gossip or living vicariously.

Even small, supporting roles have their place and form here. Check out this excerpt from "Time Will Tell"

A nurse works at her station on the corner of the small, cool room, making notes a silent witness of every dreadful moment.

I teach English at an orphanage and work with children who are often in and out of foster homes. The story "Rube" really hit home for me and I believe it to be my favorite. Sorry Joanne, that's favourite. This is the last line

Heading for the railway station, Rube's stride was brash and confident, but the tune he hummed was melancholy.

"The Karma Train" was another good one and it had me thinking for a moment that these were all parables in a way, life lessons for the willing. There is a steady theme of starting over and moving on that is hard to get away from.

Then, I found it. The dark and twisted side of reality shown through and I was in my special, evil place. "Coward" knocked my socks off with its form and economy of words

They all think I'm a coward. That I couldn't have done it. That I'd never fight back. But they're wrong.

"A Most Educational Quiz" was very clever in the telling, I even read it twice, once to my wife out loud.

"Lucy" was another tasty treat as we danced in the dark once again, sin and ambition.

So I'm pretty much going to read everything by Joanne Van Leerdam but she better tell me where I can get a physical copy of Stained Glass or I will pitch a fit and blame the local banker for the trouble. Her work is soothing, calm, yet it packs a punch that leaves you waiting for another turn at the potter's wheel.