The habit of widowhood Book

It is massively important to acknowledge Barnard's gift of versatility and skill in short story writing. He remains a model to be scrupulously studied for anyone ready to learn succinctness and vivid style. Hugely worthy of examination but I'm not sure if I could confidently follow his lead.

Basically we have to ditch the idea that he wrote "Cosies". He was clearly capable of far more than that: and this collection proves he punched way above his weight, delighted in being brutally fearless and was ever ready to seriously discomfort readers if he chose.

In this collection he swings all over the place within and without the theme of widowhood and displays a far more revealing awareness of the nastier possibilities than I wonder a strong imagination could conjure. Thus I fall into a "YIKES!" response at some of these, and wonder what kind of people Barnard knew in his lifetime and am mildly aghast at his willingness to portray the full range in his work. Yup. Robert Barnard was Fearless.

Conclusion: I'm too wimpy to be a writer of such strong stuff, and bow to his authority.