Glimpses of childhood old age and the dangerous bits in between

Stories by Sharyn Munro

Knocklefty Press

“I write to make sense of life.  I do that best with the stages of life which I think I now understand,” writes Sharyn Munro, a local author commenting on her recently published collection of short stories. 

Her stories cover childhood, adolescence and old age omitting the middle years saying they lie like a tangled muddle; the messy ups and downs of relationships which she still can’t quite unravel. 

Sharyn Munro does give an insight into how she writes these enjoyable, sometimes humorous stories which she describes as “a selective, fictional ramble through my take on our human lives.” 

She admits it is perhaps an unusual way of selecting subjects. They are a result of, not only personal recollections and memories, but overheard conversations which she jots down in a notebook wherever she goes, scribbling phrases and topics that amuse, or trigger story ideas, hence the title Peeping Through My Fingers. 

The stories are like those that once regularly graced the pages of our favourite weekly magazines. They are easy to read, light-hearted tales, often with amusing anecdotes, that are woven into a short form that you can pick up when on a tea break or use as a distraction while in the waiting room of a doctor or dentist. 

The introduction begins with a story about growing up and ends with the wish that having survived skidding into a hole that is hard to climb out of. This prompts her to asks the question how can we deal with our youthful impulsive decisions differently?  She notes that wise societies do not allow young people to commit to lifetime attachments until after thirty.

Divided into sections, part one recalls childhood memories and sends the reader on an innocent run round the neighbour with harmless antics and confusion as to what is expected of teens during their early years as they discover drinking, dating and making sense of the accepted boundaries of normal behaviour.

The second part tackles the confusion of adolescence many of us will identify with. These stories deal with the decisions we make concerning our feelings about romance, sex, marriage, divorce and heartbreak. She doesn’t ignore one-night stands, reuniting with former lovers and couples who favour open marriages where each openly flaunts a long- term lover. 

Sharyn finally shines the spotlight on how growing through early adulthood we so desperately want to fit in with societal expectations.   

Her concluding section looks at the decline and indignity of old age and this she does in a gentle way musing on the loss of physical vitality, the disappearance of youthful appearance and how easy it is for older women in particular, to become invisible. Like life she says, there is no happy endings at this time highlighting the need for friendships. 

Like her two earlier books, she does not hold back on her deep love and appreciation of the Australian landscape and of its animals.

Sherry Stumm. 

* “Peeping Through My Fingers”, is available to order from the author at www.sharynmunro.com