Five Excellent Novella Collections

In continuation of my themed posts this year and the fact that we are reading “Novellas in November” (#NovNov23), in this blog post I have highlighted five novella collections that I have greatly enjoyed in recent years and would definitely recommend. I call them novella collections, because these novellas have been grouped together in single editions.

So without further ado, here is the list. You can read the detailed reviews on each by clicking on the title links…

OLD NEW YORK by Edith Wharton

Old New York is a marvellous collection of four novellas set in 19th century New York, each novella encompassing a different decade, from the first story set in the 1840s to the last in the 1870s. All these novellas display the brilliance of Edith Wharton’s writing and are proof of the fact that her keen insights and astute observations on the hypocrisy of New York of her time are second to none. In each of these four novellas, the central characters struggle to adapt to the rigid mores of conventional New York. Thrown into extraordinary situations not aligned to societal expectations, they find themselves alienated from the only world they have ever known.  All the novellas are well worth reading, but the second one – “The Old Maid”– particularly is the finest of the lot, exquisitely written, and alone worth the price of the book.

NO LOVE LOST: SELECTED NOVELLAS by Rachel Ingalls

No Love Lost is a wonderful collection of eight novellas that have all the hallmarks of Ingalls’s magical, subversive writing à la Mrs Caliban, and yet each is surprising and distinct in its own way.

In “Blessed Art Thou” one of the protagonists, Brother Anselm has an ethereal visitation from the angel Gabriel with the two engaging in an erotic, one-night stand. My favourite “In the Act” is a wonderfully bizarre and comic tale of a toxic marriage that unravels and culminates in a highly unconventional, should I say, threesome. “Something to Write Home About” is another disquieting tale about marital problems, mental illness, and denial unfurling in the mesmeric, haunting beauty of the Greek islands where the blue skies and dazzling sun mask the darker overtones that mark the story.

Ingalls’ writing is sparse and economical; the kind of brevity that creates a sense of urgency and intensity in her narratives. Well-paced, dialogue-heavy, and smartly written, these novellas often take the reader into unexpected territories as the lines between the real and the strange begin to blur. 

LOVE IN A FALLEN CITY by Eileen Chang (Translated from Chinese by Karen S. Kingsbury & Eileen Chang)

Love in a Fallen City is a collection of four novellas and two short stories offering a fascinating glimpse into the lives of people in 1930s/1940s Shanghai and Hong Kong.

I really liked the flavor of the four novellas in this collection accentuated by the fact that Eileen Chang’s writing is elegant and incisive with a lovely way of describing things. She has a flair for painting a detailed picture of the social mores of the time as well as for her perceptive depictions of the inner workings of her characters’ minds. She also highlights the subtle differences between Hong Kong, which has more of a British essence, and Shanghai which is more Chinese.

Ultimately, there is something tragic about the men and women (the latter particularly) in her novellas, a sense of melancholy that leaves its mark on the reader.

THE COPENHAGEN TRILOGY by Tove Ditlevsen (Translated from Danish by Tiina Nunnally & Michael Favala Goldman)

Childhood, Youth, Dependency  (together called The Copenhagen Trilogy) are three brilliant, short books that explore the themes of writing, marriage, parenthood, abortion, and drug addiction in a very frank voice. Ditlevsen’s prose is clear, unadorned, and highly absorbing. While “Childhood” is intense and gloomy, “Youth” is more lighthearted with moments of comedy. “Dependency” is the best of the lot, quite unsettling and harrowing in some places. Overall, the trilogy is a remarkable piece of work.

FISH SOUP by Margarita Garcia Robayo (Translated from Spanish by Charlotte Coombe)

Fish Soup is an invigorating collection of novellas and stories that explore the themes of frayed relationships, travel and the opposing forces of sex and desire as against abstinence and self-denial.

The first novella – “Waiting for a Hurricane” – is particularly the highlight where the narrator is dissatisfied with her current life and longs to escape and run away from her dead-end circumstances. The other novella – “Sexual Education” is equally good. As the title suggests, this is a topic that is explored through the eyes of adolescents in a school which strictly preaches the doctrine of abstinence. However, what is taught at school is hardly what goes on outside its confines.