The Flying Lady

The Flying Lady

and 20 Other Short Stories to read when time is short...

by Patrick Coyne

As an author, and reader, of full-length novels I’m reminded by Patrick Coyne’s The Flying Lady of just how satisfying short stories can be in the hands of a talented writer. Coyne tells them in a straight line from start to finish as befits the genre – no meandering or padding, keeping the tales taut and absorbing. Highly charged, inventive ‘excerpts’, so to speak, from ordinary people’s lives, with a beginning, middle, and end, providing bite-sized, pleasing reads. Short stories are easy to read – one of the nice things about this book – but far from easy to write. Just as quatrains and sonnets require maximum discipline in poetry so do short stories and one-act plays in prose. Something this author clearly understands and achieves. With twenty-one stories created over many years and each an entity in itself, it is inevitable that some will rise above the others. It doesn’t make this book any less worthwhile. With The Flying Lady no one can say they don’t have the time to read quality fiction. – acclaimed author Gustav Preller

Pat Coyne is no stranger to Durban writing circles and this latest offering will be welcomed by those who know and enjoy his light fiction. The Flying Lady and 20 other short stories is indeed a collection to “read when time is short…” as described on the cover. If you prefer to read “the real thing” rather than the somewhat soulless electronic version, this little book makes the perfect companion for tucking into a suitcase for a weekend away. It’s barely larger than a Kindle and no heavier. The stories range across South Africa from the Cape to Kruger, from sci-fi to the San people. Some raise a smile, while others, like The Miracle Makers, provide pause for thought. – Phillida Ellis in the Sunday Tribune 30 June 2013