At Home in the Pays D’Oc v The Porter

April has read and reviewed At Home in the Pays d'Oc: A tale of accidental expatriates (The Pays d'Oc series Book 1). The following is some of the writeup on Amazon, but what did April think of it?...

"This is the story of how a small brown and white spaniel turned the lives of two English holidaymakers upside down.
Patricia and her husband Patrick are spending the summer in their holiday home in the Languedoc village of Morbignan la Crèbe. One hot Friday afternoon Patrick walks in with the little dog, thinking she is a stray. They have no intention of keeping her. ‘Just for tonight,’ says Patrick. ‘We will take her to the animal shelter tomorrow.’ It never happens. They spend the weekend getting to know and love the little creature, who looks at them appealingly with big brown eyes, and wags her absurd stump of a tail every time they speak to her...   ...it is the story of some of their bizarre and sometimes hilarious encounters: the Velcro bird, the builder in carpet slippers, the neighbour who cuts the phone wires, the clock that clacks, the elusive carpenter who really did have to go to a funeral."

Daizi has read and reviewed The Porter: Retribution in lockdown by Rachel Parsonage for this episode, and she had plenty to say about it.

Dave Williams, the hero of our story, suddenly finds himself confronted with the demons of his past - Dave and his brother Ken were in care in the 80s, subjected to a system totally unfit for purpose. When faced with one of the main perpetrators of the harm caused to them, Dave, unrecognisable in his protective equipment, finds revenge easy to execute...

"Initially the thing that struck me as interesting about this story, was the all male protagonist, antagonist plot. Not that that in itself is unusual, quite the opposite in fact, it’s all too common. What was interesting was that it was written by a woman. it can’t be easy to write from a perspective you’ve never experienced, was my first thought, credit to Parsonage for that. on reading, the story is more about vague generalised abuse and the emotional aftermath that would be relevant and equally traumatic for any gender..."

Download and listen, see if you agree with these reviews. Maybe you'll be tempted to read them on our recommendations. 

Get writing and be a part of this season's flash fiction, you'll find the writing prompts on our social media along with the deadlines for submission. You could guest host on a future podcast with your own flash fiction story.

You can find our flash fiction anthology on Amazon.

Submit your book for a possible future review to barebookspod1@gmail.com

Big thanks to Sydney Strong for the musical interludes. Find them on Instagram @syd_extincti