THE BOOK OF WITTY WOMEN
BY HELEN LEDERER
Published: 25th April 2024
FARRAGO BOOKS
The Book of Witty Women showcases the very best in humorous short story writing, by outstanding contemporary women writers, including Kathy Lette, Sadia Azmat, Lucy Vine, Josie Long, Paula Lennon, and many more.
It includes the winning and shortlisted stories from the Comedy Women in Print Short Story Prize. From tales of a narcoleptic biscuit lover, con artists with a twist, and the accidental death of a hamster; to consequences of accidental gluing, the imagined world of extreme shopping, and the delightfully surreal world of canine dating, these 15 boldly imaginative stories range across a multitude of genres and themes.
Each proves the power of the short story to disarm, tickle or simply entertain.
With a tagline of ’15 new laugh-out-loud stories by women writers’, an introduction by Helen Lederer and short stories from well-known names including Kathy Lette and Josie Long, I was very excited to feast my eyes on an early copy of this book.
Short stories can be wondrous works of magic that hook you in instantly. Of the fifteen on offer here, two did just that and made me chuckle, so kudos to Lucy Vine’s Double Date and Wendy Hood’s Care Home Capers. The remainder, unfortunately, failed to raise anything beyond a smile, much less the promised laugh-out-loud; on the whole, they fell rather flat and left me wanting.
Although I was disappointed that this book over-promised and under-delivered overall, the gems that shone compensated somewhat, and there were parts of some of the other stories I enjoyed.
Thanks to Farrago for the eARC provided via NetGalley; this is my unbiased review.
3 / 5
A mixture of short stories for when time is even shorter