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Drowned Sprat and Other Stories, Stephanie Johnson
Vintage
Reviewed by James O'Sullivan (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Everything about this short story collection is solid and reliable; the writing is competent, the characters are identifiable and accessible and there is sufficient variation in style and content between the stories to maintain interest.

Stephanie Johnson herself comes with solid and reliable credentials. She is the winner of awards and the writer of many published books including poetry, novels and short stories.

The stories in this collection range from ultra realism to ghost stories and fables. The mood oscillates between light-heartedness and poignancy. We encounter New Zealand tourists in Bali, a ghost in a roadside toilet, a woman wanting a mail-order wife for her husband, and a mysterious octopus calling a lonely woman from the sea.

So if you like your fiction solid and reliable, Drowned Sprat and Other Stories could be for you. It's a good point of access to Johnson's writing because this book collects some of the best stories from her career as well as new material.

But I can't help but think that something is missing. It's that literary spark that makes a story exciting and challenging. It's what takes the story beyond the mundane, making you stop and think, rather than just moving on to the next story and forgetting the last one. Which was what I found myself doing with this book.

Drowned Sprat and Other Stories is a light, inconsequential read to fill in some spare time. But if, like me, you prefer your literature with a little more bite then you may be disappointed.