She Is Haunted – Paige Clark

The beauty of a short story collection is that it allows you to traverse all manner of topics.

Transnational Asian identity, intergenerational trauma, female friendship, mother-daughter relationships, the love of a dog – all are examined in Paige Clark’s debut collection, She Is Haunted (kindly sent to me by the wonderful team at Allen & Unwin for review). It has been compared to Carmen Maria Machado’s debut collection, reason enough to pick it up for me!

I liked the stories where Clark nudged at the supernatural (or, to put it another way, when things got weird). This is also the first “post-pandemic” fiction I’ve read that directly and explicitly describes the impact of COVID-19.

I must offer a trigger warning, for that and for dog-related trauma (which will always, no matter the context, make me cry).

This is a fine debut, showcasing glimpses of good things to come from a young Chinese-American-Australian writer.

Buy She Is Haunted on Booktopia here. (affiliate link)