I loved how visceral the feelings were written, with venom (or alternatively, despair) dripping from each sentence. (We thought we had the character sussed out, but obviously not!) Taddeo is also not afraid to comment on how ageing women are discarded by society, nor how badly women treat each other. so that when Taddeo shows their darker side, it produces a stronger reaction from the reader. The characters are well drawn in succinct terms. It is a little shocking at first, but it is also refreshing as the characters are brutally honest with the reader, even if their actions and feelings aren’t following the mainstream or conventionally accepted. One thing that all the stories have in common is that they are open to any topic or aspect of the characters, good or bad. A couple of the stories are interlinked, featuring minor characters from previous stories and giving further insight into their motivations and grievances. Grief is also a recurring theme – death of a parent ( A Suburban Weekend) or the loss of youth ( Air Supply, Grace Magorian). Sometimes they go to any length to get it, with some making a successful business out of it (the main character in Ghost Lover), sometimes they are happy to stand on the sidelines and take small bites when available ( Maid Marian). The women in these stories are battered and bruised emotionally but they all know exactly what they want.

There are nine stories in this collection, with one of the most common themes being how women are treated badly by men – and how they extract their revenge (or not). Her collection of short stories, Ghost Lover, is raw, honest and doesn’t care it makes someone clutch their pearls or gasp out loud. She writes how her characters (predominantly women) are really feeling, with no holds barred. Lisa Taddeo is a bold writer, both in content and style. Publisher: Bloomsbury Circus (Bloomsbury)

Why I chose it: Always up for a great short story collection. The not-so-good: Would have loved a full-length story about any of these characters. The good: Lisa Taddeo dares to write what others don’t touch. In brief: A collection of powerful, brutally honest short stories about women with no holds barred.

Animal by lisa taddeo review