Jeri Walker-Bickett

This was an unusual collection of five short stories. Unusual, I thought, because though fictional, they reflect very real situations.

I seem to find a collection of short stories invariably contains one I like the most and one which stays with me for one reason or another. The teacher story (Not Terribly Important) was my favourite (was it auto-biographical, I wonder?), and the most unsettling was the dog story (For The Love Of Dog). I almost wish I hadn’t read that one. As a hopelessly besotted animal lover, I did find it disturbing…be warned!

A creative-writing teacher is an author (when not teaching), who self-publishes a novel. But her students’ parents are unhappy with its contents. The teacher and principle clash over the issue, and the teacher finds herself with a decision to make: does she follow her heart and pursue her passion or relent to narrow-mindedness?

What do you do with a poorly trained pet dog which has been mistreated and as a consequence knows no better and behaves aggressively? His owners clash over his future: the bully of a husband is adamant the dog's life has to end…by whatever means. His wife has more heart, but fears her husband. She needs a solution quickly.

The remaining three stories feature:

An encounter in a launderette between a young man and woman, neither of whom have managed to fulfil their long-held ambitions and ended on a drifting path. Her intentions to continue along that path may just inspire him to do something about his own.

A young mother and wife with mental problems is constantly in and out of hospital. Her problem is that she’s trapped in a revolving door of mindnumbness if she takes her pills, but without them her lucidity is crippled with pyschosis. On one particular day of torment she takes a stroll…

A man who works in a carnival picks up a young student. The inevitable happens. But this rolling stone doesn’t reckon on a female take-it-or-leave version of himself.

This author has compiled a set of stories which are well written, well observed, and thought-provoking. The stories don’t necessarily end as you might expect because…well, that’s life. Most enjoyable.… (plus d'informations)

Such is Life by Jeri Walker-Bickett is hilarious, rough, heart-wrenching and realistic. It gives rise to an impetus of emotion.

Walker-Bickett allows each character to hold a longstanding voice, raw and powerful, taking center stage within his or her own struggles. From a young girl giving way to a careless moment of drugs and sex, to an over-worked, deeply criticized and under appreciated teacher who suddenly rekindles a long forgotten sense of self-worth, the reader is pulled into the fragments of each damaged and unforgettable struggle.

Remarkably enough, Shirley Baker struck me as a the most prolific and edifying character. Her story is one like so many middle-class Americans. A wife and mother of two girls, Shirley lives her life with the usual struggles and has a seemingly normal lifestyle. But she is faced with an awful dilemma that divides her mental and emotional stability.

There is an intensely quiet scene as Shirley sits getting sloshed with her dog sitting next to her, all the while watching morning cartoons. That one moment struck a chord. The depth of the attachment was hauntingly morbid and heartbreaking.

Walker-Bickett's writing is stark and vivid, inspiring a certain honesty that draws the reader into a nearly palpable fascination.

Read the entire review here:
Bookend Chronicles… (plus d'informations)