“Sandcastles” by Lily Lawson

I’d first read this short story collection some time ago. Life was so hectic then that, although I couldn’t refrain from indulging in my favourite pastime – reading, obviously – I couldn’t keep up with writing reviews for everything that I’d read. And while for some books a short, formal review would suffice, especially for those hyped-over bestsellers everybody is talking about, it definitely wasn’t the case with “Sandcastles” by Lily Lawson. This book deserved to be reviewed properly, even though the myriad of thoughts and emotions it evoked could never fit into a review.

The book is divided into four thematic parts: Unexpected, Unconditional, Unending, and Unexplained. And I must say that the author has shown us mercy by adding the short story ‘Aliens for Hire’ to the last part. After the emotional rollercoaster through which she puts the readers, a dollop of humour – though unconventional it might be – is exactly what’s needed. Yeah, Gold package for me, please, so that they can mingle with the guests… The truth, after all, is still out there, and if there is even the tiniest chance to learn it…Ah well, pardon for this distraction.

The collection opens with ‘Love, Andy,’ the story which will break your heart into a million pieces first and then…No, I won’t tell you more so as not to spoil the experience.

My favourites are ‘Cut the Mustard’ and ‘It’s in the Cards.’ It didn’t change after I read the collection the second time before writing this review. Both stories brought tears to my eyes – happy ones.

‘Cut the Mustard’ made me reflect on how often it is enough that only one person gives us a chance. For someone’s life to make a turn for the better, it’s not necessary for a whole crowd to cheer and support them. Paradoxically, sometimes, when a person grows up in a cocoon of wealth and care, they take it for granted, wasting a chance after an opportunity, until Lady Fortune turns away from them. The opposite can also be true. A single person believing in you, when common sense not simply whispers but screams that nothing good can come out of this hopeless venture, can change your stars. And the light that person has shed on your life grows to warm also those sharing your life with you.

‘It’s in the Cards’ is a triumph of hope. Something that we forget amidst the harsh and the practical. One short story – and even a thousand – won’t make simple miracles happen more often. Yet, even one story can rekindle the hope in someone’s heart. Which, no matter how insignificant on the global scale, is vital in one person’s life.

After finishing ‘A Shock to the System,’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or to be, well, shocked. The ending was so unexpected, moreover, so far from anything that I could have expected, that it left me covering my mouth when I tried to hide that I was giggling. It felt inappropriate, but then I thought, why should it be so? That the character of this story was ‘such a stiff’ doesn’t mean that we all should be like him, does it?

“Sandcastles” by Lily Lawson is like a kaleidoscope, opening a new facet of life with every page turned.