Going the Distance

Featuring twenty vigorous, original stories by widely published authors and up-and-coming new talent, this impressive anthology transports readers from Birmingham to Trinidad, Colombia to Canada, and Liverpool to London Award-winning author Alan Beard expertly compiles a surprising array of contemporary voices in this engaging read. Stories include Gemma Blackshaw's spot-on portrait of an Essex girl on the verge of losing her virginity; Joel Lane's beautiful, poetical allegory about a man's relationship with alcohol; and Godfrey Featherstone's heartbreaking tale of an illiterate Birmingham couple, told in the form of a letter from a prison cell. Also included is a story written by Beard himself, which cuts of the quick with a painfully honest study of growing regret and acceptance after a marriage break-up through infidelity. "Going the Distance" is always powerful, original, and perfectly understated, with each author's voice both presented in a thoroughly strong and enticing manner.