The Listener by Shira Nayman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
~*~
I enjoyed The Listener quite a bit more than I thought I would at first. While part of the story-line was fairly predictable, I was nonetheless caught off guard with the ending. Yes, I rather liked the ending. It left me with one of those ‘oh!‘ moments when I read the last paragraph… I like that feeling!
The Listener is certainly deserving of a four star rating here. Shira Nayman has written, in her second novel, a most compelling story of human frailty. Her treatment of the main staff and patient characters was especially well done, and she adds a nice depth to the secondary characters as well.
In The Listener, the author uses a descriptive and compassionate narrative style that easily engenders empathy in the reader for the characters Shira has created. She deals with the subject of mental illness, both those being treated and the persons treating them, with an understanding and compassion that only one who has experience in the field can.
The author shows with a startling clarity that the casualties of war go far beyond those who served and their families. The consequences of war are not unlike the ripples in a pond when one drops a stone in its center… spreading out and touching everything and everyone in their path.
None of us are immune from the fragile nature of the human mind.
I would recommend The Listener without hesitation.
Thank you.
Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Silverdale, Washington
22 June 2012
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About VeronicaThePajamaThief
Bio: Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Born in Lisboa, Portugal to parents of Portuguese/Russian descent, Veronica Marie and her partner of six and a half years, Christina Anne, celebrated their second wedding anniversary in October 2012. The couple are “still very much on honeymoon!”
Part time teacher/barista/student, Veronica’s long fascination with noir fiction prompted her to try her own hand at writing fiction – “the last two years have been a roller coaster!”, where she honed her ‘writing chops’ on an unsuspecting public over at Flash Fiction Friday and Phil Ambler's (formerly Lily Childs’) Friday Prediction.
Veronica has been published in Pulp Metal Magazine, The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology, the horror anthology 100 Horrors, from Cruentus Libri Press, and the inaugural issue of Literary Orphans magazine. She also appears in Katherine Tomlinson's anthology, NIGHTFALLS: Notes from the end of the world, Paul D. Brazill’s DRUNK ON THE MOON 2: A Roman Dalton Anthology and Near To The Knuckle's debut anthology - Gloves Off.
Veronica counts among her mentors - Carole A Parker, Lily Childs, Paul D Brazill, Richard Godwin and Joyce Juzwik. She is currently ‘polishing’ her first novel – a memoir – and working on the second draft of a second novel, as well as publishing a collection of her flash fiction and short stories.
Veronica’s writings can also be found at http://veronicathepajamathief.blogspot.com and http://veronicathepajamathiefwritespoetry.blogspot.com.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology (Kindle)
