Book Review – Why She Loves Him by Wendy James

Collection of Short Stories by Award Winning Australian Author

Sep 26, 2009

This collection of short stories challenges readers with vivid depictions of romance, love and affection, highlighting the complex nature of relationships of all kinds.

Award-winning Australian author Wendy James offers readers confronting glimpses into the everyday lives of her characters in Why She Loves Him (UWA, 2009). The 20 short stories and one story sequence include stories previously published in a variety of magazines as well as some new work.

Why She Loves Him

Named for the final 61-page story sequence, Why She Loves Him offers stories about a far more diverse and complex range of relationships than the title might suggest. With stories written from both the male and female perspective, James highlights relationships between parents and children, siblings, husbands and wives and friends in this series of gripping relationship vignettes.

Central characters are diverse including both women and men of a variety of ages and backgrounds. The stories are quite evocative, quickly providing readers with enough background for them to identify and empathise with the central characters.

The situations described in the stories are diverse and James demonstrates her dexterity as a writer as she handles the characterisation and descriptions of wildly varied characters and situations with equal skill.

Readers are quickly drawn in to the emotional journey of the central characters with stories that evoke a strong response, however this can also leave readers feeling dissatisfied with the abrupt ending of many of the tales. While there is generally resolution of the central issue of the story, characters are so successfully portrayed that it is difficult for readers to not wish that they could travel further into the story, particularly if hoping for a more positive resolution.

A Collection of Short Stories About the Harsher Aspects of Love

Despite a title that seems to promise stories of love and affection, Why She Loves Him focuses on the more complex and challenging aspects of relationships. Disillusionment, confusion, self-doubt, guilt, frustration, anger and shame all feature.

Portrayals of relationships between parents and young children are particularly confronting and relationships between adult children and their parent(s) demonstrate the variety of emotional links that form in these relationships as time passes. Romantic relationships do feature, although once again these are never portrayed in a light-hearted fashion.

James takes everyday people, situations and lives and delves into the hidden insecurities, histories and emotional turmoil that influences the way individuals interact with those around them.

Australian Author Wendy James

Wendy James is the author of two novels. The first, Out of Silence (Random House) won the 2006 Ned Kelly Award and was shortlisted for the Nita May Dobbie Award for women’s writing. The second, The Steele Diaries (Vintage, 2008), shares the story of three generations of women and their struggle to combine the challenges of motherhood with their creative and artistic natures.

Challenging Short Stories

These skilfully crafted stories demonstrate James’ power as an author and leave readers with lasting impressions of bruised and fragile emotions. While not quite enjoyable due to the raw nature of the emotions they portray, they are powerfully told glimpses into everyday lives, illustrating the complexity of the emotional connections individuals form.

The copyright of the article Book Review – Why She Loves Him by Wendy James in Australian Literature is owned by Susan Whelan. Permission to republish Book Review – Why She Loves Him by Wendy James in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.