Gareth Owen

This collection of eleven stories provides a voice for many different worlds and characters: from the naïve but beautiful Italian woman and her erotic obsession with religion and dentistry, to the Rock/Blues singer damaged by drugs and alcohol, whose moment in the sun has passed, and who falls under the spell of the honey-voiced Mississipi Southern Belle of his satnav. One evening, whilst suffering from writers’ block, Gareth Owen recalled an anecdote related by his Italian teacher and mentally transformed himself into an Italian woman, and the result was Zia Teresa: the tale of the rather dim small-town beauty and her erotic obsessions. There is a touching, dexterous humour about the tale.Fortunately the new-found confidence survived to enable him to pen ten further stories many with male protagonists and English settings: the chilling ghost story of the aborted child, the narcissistic actor and his breakdown on stage; the confessions of the serial philanderer. There is horror, comedy and an elegant insightfulness here that keeps the reader turning the pages and asking for more. These stories will both enthral and delight.

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