The Quick — Barbara Scott

Scott explores a world of seemingly innocuous but ultimately unstable surfaces. In this collction of short fiction when the meniscus ruptures the character must face what lies beneath and, pushed beyond coping, they discover control and courage they didn't know they had. These are stories that work underneath the reader's skin, lived at a cellular level. Whether trapped in a plastic suit while spraying poisons, or in a doctor's office contemplating breast surgery, these characters discover an intimacy on which they didn't bargain: a new intimacy with the self. But there are disturbing aspects to this intimacy. Strange moments of grace, even a kind of redemption through details as small as a butter tar, or a coloured egg. The immediacy of the language and its exploration of the minute invite the reader to experience the stories at the visceral level, where small decisions carry the weight of a lifetime of choice.