According to the editorial in QWF 47, this is a smaller issue, with the review section absent and the letters pages cut back to make more room for fiction. There are fifteen stories in all. ‘In Touch’ by Chris Butterworth follows a woman trying to make ephemeral contact with her sperm donator father by visiting the fertility clinic she believes he once visited. This is the nearest she’ll ever get to knowing anything about him. Weaving through this is her work as an archaeologist, trying to determine the origins of some pottery shards that seem out of place in an African find. Depending on the results of her investigations, her department will or won’t secure more funding. But the origins and identity of the shards of pottery are as mysterious as her father. ‘In Touch’ is a nicely written story that is character driven and understated, and stays in the mind after reading.

Anne Hosansky’s ‘The Message’ features a woman whose husband has suddenly left. She buys an answering machine, hoping that people will call her. Disappointed when they don’t, she tries to change her message. The story continues as she deals with the reactions of her son and daughter to news of the separation, and the resolution is probably as most readers would expect. Again, this story is well written, character driven and understated, as many QWF stories are. The use of dialogue also moves the story on, giving it a decent pace, and there’s an enigma at the end involving the identity of someone who leaves a message on the machine.

The Welsh story, ‘Moving Through Mountains’ by Wendy Holborow is one of the best pieces of fiction in this issue, and my own personal favourite. Following a farmer over the course of his life, it details the hardships of rural life, and the loneliness of the man at the heart of the story. This really is a strong piece of writing and it came second in the magazine’s Philip Good Memorial Prize.

‘Unfathomable’ by Coralie Hughes Jensen moves between different time periods and gradually reveals the narrator’s dark secret that lies at the bottom of a lake. I did find the time shifts slightly jarring in terms of the ordering of the scenes, but ‘Unfathomable’ has a dark haunting quality to it that lingers on after reading.

In Victoria Patterson’s ‘Thighs’ the narrator’s husband buys her membership to a gym. He hates the sight of fat people and it’s clear that this is a relationship that has little to offer. The narrator’s children are now her emotional focus. At the gym, she scores a minor triumph over a younger, fitter, attractive woman. Though there is nothing original about this story, its strength lies in its subtle complexity and interweaving of different relationships: the narrator and her children, her marriage, and her interaction with the fitness instructor.

Kathie Giorgio’s ‘Talking to the Dead’ is another of the stronger works in the magazine. Emily’s marriage to Nathan is haunted by his dead first wife, Cody. He doesn’t want to talk about her, and Emily herself has avoided the subject. But the time has come for her to find out about Cody, the mother of the children she now cares for. Giorgio handles the subject with sensitivity, making for a readable and engaging story.

’Olympia’s Slippers’ by Helen Kitson has a male narrator, as does the Welsh story ‘Moving Through Mountains’ mentioned above. This makes a refreshing change to stories that otherwise focus on female central characters. There’s a nice balance of dialogue, thought and action in this piece, giving the story a certain fluidity.

Tua Laine’s story ‘The Quickening’ is perhaps the best written of all in issue 47. Her Finnish character leaps off the page, and Laine has a masterly understanding of rhythm in prose. Many writers overlook this technique, which is a shame because it can help bring a piece to life. The Finnish setting contributed to this story’s appeal.

There’s plenty of other reading in the magazine, including a beautifully written flash fiction piece by Vanessa Gebbie. Other writers featured are Chris Sofge, Victoria Adderley, Solrun Hoass, Jo Swingler, Beverley Smith, and Carol Wolrich. In addition, there’s Jo Waterworth’s regular column Fringe Benefits, and an article by Shelagh Nugent on (how shall I put this?) feminine lubrication.

QWF 47 offers an interesting range of writing. If I were to make any criticism at all it’s that there’s still a focus on the domestic environment so common to a lot of women’s fiction, and there’s still an abundance of middle class characters. But on the strength of this issue, the magazine seems to be steering a course for wider horizons.

© 2005 Laura Hird All rights reserved.