Book Review – The Radio Voice by Sass Everett

First published, 2022

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

A powerful short story from Canadian author, Sass Everett. The story follows a young female musician and her journeys home at all hours of the evening. People in her local area have often spoken about picking up snatches of radio shows on their pipework and from large appliances in their houses, but as our heroine returns home one evening, she hears a voice speaking directly to her from the radio; a smooth, seductive woman’s voice, and she isn’t sure what to make of it.

It’s not part of a programme, it’s very clear the voice is speaking only to her, but the more she turns it over in her mind, the more she is intrigued by the disembodied woman, the more she wants to get to know her, to have an actual conversation, more, with her. She finds herself wondering what the voice would think of the way she lives – she’s not the tidiest person when it comes to items of hosiery. What starts as a bit of a cat and mouse mystery, swiftly develops into a quasi-romance, resulting in a meditation on the reality of love in the absence of the physical, or even the face. She can’t know this woman, but she loves her, and feels loved by her. And maybe that’s enough.

The writing is crisp and clear, and comes from a distinctly individual voice, I really enjoyed it, and it’s given me thoughts that are going to plague my dreams for the foreseeable. I like anyone who can make me think. A remarkable debut. Brava.

https://amzn.to/3GVnuRe