Book Review of Muckross Abbey and Other Stories by Sabina Murray

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book stats:

248 pages, published in 2023

you may enjoy this book if you like:

Gothic fiction * Short stories

travel inspiration:

The ten tales captured in this collection span many locales from Mougins, France to County Kerry, Ireland to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

about the author: Sabina Murray

Muckross Abbey and Other Stories is award-winning author Sabina Murray's eighth work. Murray is an English professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her prior novel, The Caprices (2007). Her other works include: The Human Zoo (2021), Valiant Gentlemen (2017), Tales of the New World (2011), Forgery (2008), A Carnivore's Inquiry (2005), and Slow Burn (1990).

review of Muckross Abbey and other stories by sabina murray

The ten short stories that comprise Sabina Murray’s latest work, Muckross Abbey and Other Stories , range in length from 16 to 34 pages, which means that each is bite-sized and a quick read. I quickly discovered that as I wrapped up each tale, I immediately wanted to move straight into the next and read the entire book in just a few short sittings before bed (more on that later).

Murray’s voice is definitely her own; even so, it has been a long time since I have read Gothic stories so this immediately reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe and took me back to high school English class (in a good way). Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart, anyone? Foundationally, the stories are about relationships and how we move through the world in relation to each other. Murray tackles lost love in the case of the titular story and “The Long Story,” about the haunted love that comes after loss in “Remote Control,” and about the relationships that can consume in “Apartment 4D”.

The best feature of Gothic fiction is that it walks that it lives just past the visible world into the ethereally creepy nether world that hovers in the periphery. That makes it both believable and not at the same time. To emphasize the creepiness, Murray partnered up with illustrator Gabriel Hennessy, who provided a sketch at the start of each short story. These were a fantastic addition to the atmosphere, which is so essential to the Gothic world of writing. I will confess that reading these before bed for someone who scares easily was not a smart move!

Because Murray is an English professor, she is well-versed in the literary world and was able to bring that knowledge to bear. For example, the story “Remote Control” is a modern day retelling of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

In my view, not all the stories were equally compelling. In my experience, that is almost always to be expected in a compilation of short stories and it’s wholly feasible that those I liked the least were other readers’ favorites. Of course with so many short stories, all you have to do is turn the page to the next story for a totally different experience!

Having not thought much about this macabre genre in a while, I found myself wondering whether there will be a (small) resurgence of Gothic writing. Somehow it feels entirely apropos to what we have lived through as a global community in the last few years and after all, art is a reflection of the lived experiences of humanity. I, for one, would welcome that . . . as long as I limit it to my daytime reading!

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