Official Review: Brightwater by Francis m. Boggs
Posted: 03 Mar 2020, 20:54
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Brightwater" by Francis m. Boggs.]
Brightwater: Short Stories From the Land of Oz by Francis M. Boggs is a collection of 13 tales about the small town of Brightwater, set in the late 1930s and early 1940s. This sleepy little Australian community provides residents with a modest choice of essentials, and the entire city grid stretches no more than 500 yards.
From haberdashery shops and ration coupons, to telephone party lines and a volunteer fire brigade, many historical details are accurately represented. Readers will be urged to envision chickens living in antique hearses, and some might even cringe at the thought of fear-inducing snake pranks carried out in backyard outhouses. Brave rescue poodles save missing children, and milk cart mares go on to achieve victory at the racetrack. There is an obligatory “town drunk, village idiot, gossipy busybody, and a Catholic priest.” Boggs feels this representational polyglot of ragtag characters is representative of what one might expect to encounter in any small town, and their riotous funeral escapades even bring some macabre levity, with slippery (missing-a-handle) caskets that simply won't fit in the grave.
I enjoyed the thoughtful inclusion of some black-and-white photographs and clip art images, as they helped to emphasize certain themes. Several of the storylines overlap, and many of the previously mentioned characters are reintroduced. Readers will even encounter some regional terminology with words like: “wowsers, bushies, mulga scrub, roustabouts, fleece-os, and games of snooker.” I feel this book would be appropriate for readers ages 13 and up, but many of the historical references would be better appreciated by seasoned adults. Some scattered profane words are present, but there is no erotic material, other than the implied sexual escapades of a poodle named Romeo. With a length of 102 pages, this sentimentally-comical compilation can be conveniently consumed in a single sitting.
I do wish there would have been an included table of contents with the listed story titles, and one scene involving the live cremation of a cancer-stricken cat was, undoubtedly, my least favorite story of all. I also encountered a few occurrences of statements like: “Readers will no doubt find this story fascinating so far,” and while that assumption might be true, those declarations actually felt somewhat distracting. While there were a number of grammatical errors present throughout, they were limited to minor typos that did not disrupt the overall comprehension or plot progression.
I award Brightwater: Short Stories From the Land of Oz a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Boggs provides an entertaining blend of fanciful nostalgia and lighthearted humor that makes this book a pleasurable read. The final story even features antics from the annual town picnic, where all of the previously presented characters have small supporting roles in the tidy conclusion of this tale. This is the author’s second published work.
******
Brightwater
View: on Bookshelves
Brightwater: Short Stories From the Land of Oz by Francis M. Boggs is a collection of 13 tales about the small town of Brightwater, set in the late 1930s and early 1940s. This sleepy little Australian community provides residents with a modest choice of essentials, and the entire city grid stretches no more than 500 yards.
From haberdashery shops and ration coupons, to telephone party lines and a volunteer fire brigade, many historical details are accurately represented. Readers will be urged to envision chickens living in antique hearses, and some might even cringe at the thought of fear-inducing snake pranks carried out in backyard outhouses. Brave rescue poodles save missing children, and milk cart mares go on to achieve victory at the racetrack. There is an obligatory “town drunk, village idiot, gossipy busybody, and a Catholic priest.” Boggs feels this representational polyglot of ragtag characters is representative of what one might expect to encounter in any small town, and their riotous funeral escapades even bring some macabre levity, with slippery (missing-a-handle) caskets that simply won't fit in the grave.
I enjoyed the thoughtful inclusion of some black-and-white photographs and clip art images, as they helped to emphasize certain themes. Several of the storylines overlap, and many of the previously mentioned characters are reintroduced. Readers will even encounter some regional terminology with words like: “wowsers, bushies, mulga scrub, roustabouts, fleece-os, and games of snooker.” I feel this book would be appropriate for readers ages 13 and up, but many of the historical references would be better appreciated by seasoned adults. Some scattered profane words are present, but there is no erotic material, other than the implied sexual escapades of a poodle named Romeo. With a length of 102 pages, this sentimentally-comical compilation can be conveniently consumed in a single sitting.
I do wish there would have been an included table of contents with the listed story titles, and one scene involving the live cremation of a cancer-stricken cat was, undoubtedly, my least favorite story of all. I also encountered a few occurrences of statements like: “Readers will no doubt find this story fascinating so far,” and while that assumption might be true, those declarations actually felt somewhat distracting. While there were a number of grammatical errors present throughout, they were limited to minor typos that did not disrupt the overall comprehension or plot progression.
I award Brightwater: Short Stories From the Land of Oz a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Boggs provides an entertaining blend of fanciful nostalgia and lighthearted humor that makes this book a pleasurable read. The final story even features antics from the annual town picnic, where all of the previously presented characters have small supporting roles in the tidy conclusion of this tale. This is the author’s second published work.
******
Brightwater
View: on Bookshelves
