Any objections to my right to comment will be in opposition to the general underlying philosophy in the work in question. Hair trigger reflexes often lead to little more than knee-jerk reactions.

The strongest stories in ‘Drinking Coffee Elsewhere’ explore the repercussions of protagonists’ attempts to challenge prejudiced responses to an individual’s cultural situation and aesthetic exterior, whether these are their own bias or that of others is beside the point.

‘Brownies’ is a subtle choice for an opener, possessing something often lacking in realist prose: a plot! The writing is honed and pared down, a tone the author maintains for most of the collection. ‘Brownies’ also illustrates Packer’s practiced ear for dialogue, which translated perfectly to the page throughout the book.

Not being certain of the author’s thematic intentions at the time of reading, I admit I enjoyed ‘Every Tongue Shall Confess’, mainly due to the gnarly one-legged bluesman, but in hindsight I feel the story is possibly misplaced in this collection and its absence might have served to strengthen some of the tales.

Packer’s writing is at its strongest - though not necessarily most powerful – when she is dealing with contemporary subject matter. Falling into this bracket we have ‘Our Lady of Peace’, a surprisingly twisty-turny account of a downtrodden woman-cum-schoolteacher who, in this instance at least, fails one of her pupils but manages, we can only hope, to cling onto her sanity.

This is followed by what are two of the strongest offerings in the compilation. These are ‘The Ant of the Self’, wherein, despite the subject matter and ambiguous ending, Packer has produced something both touching and uplifting, succeeding admirably in adopting an authentic male voice to boot, and the eponymous ‘Drinking Coffee Elsewhere’, both written in the first person.

‘Speaking in Tongues’ I finished easily enough, but I don’t feel a reader would be missing out by skipping over it. For all its predictability, I still found it lacked a satisfying resolution and I just couldn’t bring myself to care about what was happening to the characters.

‘Geese’ continues the sombre mood, but with an almost surreal edge to it, and a host of memorable if not necessarily fully-realised characters.

Finally we come to the conclusion, ‘Doris is Coming’, stepping back some decades to the still-segregated South of the US. This is not as gripping as some of the other stories in ‘Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,’ but stick with it and your patience will be rewarded, as Packer concludes her tales with a telling flourish.

'Drinking Coffee Elsewhere' is an engaging read, best consumed in story-sized chunks. Definitely a book I would recommend, though not necessarily to everyone. It should be easily accessible to a British audience. I look forward to reading more by this rightfully acclaimed author.

Neil Ayres was born in East London in 1979. He left school with a handful of GCSEs when he was 16 and has worked at times (and in no particular order) as a warehouseman, a cattery hand, a copy-shop assistant, a barman, a professional dog trainer and a cheap alternative to a computer database. He currently works in publishing. He lives on the Surrey/Sussex border in a house without a resident cat, though if there was one it could live without fear of being swung, as there’s not enough room to do such a thing. Neil is project manager for the ‘Book of Voices,’ an anthology of short stories due to be published by Flame Books in March 2005 in an attempt to raise awareness of the work of the Sierra Leone office of International PEN. Neil is also a member of Godisin, the first TTA writers’ workshop. In between all of the above, he is trying to get round to finishing his second novel and finding a decent agent. To read Neil’s story, ‘Changeling’ on the Showcase section of this site, click here or for more reviews by Neil, visit The New Review index here.

© 2004 Laura Hird All rights reserved.