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Safely Gathered In
A woman grows increasingly annoyed by her husband’s emails, offering advice and reminders even months after his death... A taxidermist dreams of preserving one of his clients after she takes him out for a coffee… A grieving nurse is troubled by her daughter’s fascination with the Iron Lady… In Safely Gathered In , Sarah Schofield probes at the heart of what forms us and what we, in turn, form. The stories collected here expose the spaces that words often fail to reach and examine how objects—both manmade and natural—can reflect the darkest manifestations of grief and disconnection. From the child acting out a family betrayal in the comfort of her dolls house, to the sister making wind-up toys from the dead birds she finds on her doorstep, this debut collection ventures into the surreal and delivers a sense of unease that leaves us questioning why we gather the things we do.
- GenresShort Stories
192 pages, Paperback
Published January 6, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 8, 2021
Safely Gathered In by Sarah Schofield
Let me just say wholeheartedly that this is a winning debut collection by Schofield in my book.
Schofield shows that she is can turn her hand to a range of subjects and genres. There is a wonderful collaboration of surrealism, dialogue, and varied use of person and tense that subverts the reader’s expectations and delivers some powerful short stories.
Schofield is a master world builder and I think the story that shows this best is “The Bactogarden”. Venturing into sci-fi and a recognisable future where two young women have developed bacteria to benefit humanity into two very different ways, Schofield focuses on the callousness of modern consumerism, how easily and thoughtlessly we might destroy something precious in the name of progress and profit.
The exploration of grief is varied and insightful. In “Dead Man’s Switch”, a widow struggles with the grief of losing her husband and the guilt of wanting to leave him in her past and move on with her new life and new partner.
A sister creates model birds with the memory of her little sister in the back of her mind. “Automata” is sharply painful and shows how grief can shape our lives.
With incisive perspectives on parenthood, relationships, and class, it is a fabulous piece of work. Admittedly, some of the stories were a bit beyond my understanding, the narrative sometimes too abstract to fully comprehend the subject matter or metaphor but that is my only criticism.
Let me just say wholeheartedly that this is a winning debut collection by Schofield in my book.
Schofield shows that she is can turn her hand to a range of subjects and genres. There is a wonderful collaboration of surrealism, dialogue, and varied use of person and tense that subverts the reader’s expectations and delivers some powerful short stories.
Schofield is a master world builder and I think the story that shows this best is “The Bactogarden”. Venturing into sci-fi and a recognisable future where two young women have developed bacteria to benefit humanity into two very different ways, Schofield focuses on the callousness of modern consumerism, how easily and thoughtlessly we might destroy something precious in the name of progress and profit.
The exploration of grief is varied and insightful. In “Dead Man’s Switch”, a widow struggles with the grief of losing her husband and the guilt of wanting to leave him in her past and move on with her new life and new partner.
A sister creates model birds with the memory of her little sister in the back of her mind. “Automata” is sharply painful and shows how grief can shape our lives.
With incisive perspectives on parenthood, relationships, and class, it is a fabulous piece of work. Admittedly, some of the stories were a bit beyond my understanding, the narrative sometimes too abstract to fully comprehend the subject matter or metaphor but that is my only criticism.
December 16, 2021
In an age of supposedly shortened attention spans, short fiction is something of a niche art-form. Of the best-selling books of the twenty-first century, there are no short story collections in the top twenty. Manchester-based Comma Press is one of the few publishing houses that still unreservedly embraces the short story form, it was described as ‘heroic’ in The New Statesman for doing so.
As unfashionable as short stories may be with the reading public, one group of people that is still in love with the medium is writers. Multi-award-winning author Sarah Schofield is a popular writing teacher at Edge Hill University and in various community settings, her debut collection ‘Safely Gathered in’ is both eclectic in its range and distinct in its voice, examining how the inexpressible often manifests itself in unexpected ways.
One of the punchiest pieces is also the shortest. ‘Termination Happy Meal’ is about ordering at a fast-food restaurant after a life-changing visit to a clinic. It lampoons how modernity gives us choices about absolutely everything, but the really important decisions come down to much more powerful forces.
‘Nostalgia4Beginners’ satirises the educational industrial complex. Its self-serious narration shows an organisation unwittingly revealing how formal teaching often stifles the exploration of spaces both inner and outer.
The opening piece, ‘Dead Man’s Switch’, is about a woman who regularly receives emails from her dead husband. It directly alludes to ‘William and Mary’ by Roald Dahl, but it owes more to another famous short story about posthumous family influence, ‘The Colonel’s Daughters’, in showing how people on the less powerful end of lopsided relationships often (on some level) enjoy it.
With descriptions of everyday objects and how ordinary people relate to them, every paragraph is overflowing with treasure. A simple description of cooking goes:
“Dad sets the garlic sizzling in a slick of butter. He slices yellow courgettes and tosses them in. He is nimble, but I see his wrist strain under the weight of the pan.”
Enjoyable and well-observed, ‘Safely Gathered in’ showcases a voice that is to consumerism what Kafka was to bureaucracy.
As unfashionable as short stories may be with the reading public, one group of people that is still in love with the medium is writers. Multi-award-winning author Sarah Schofield is a popular writing teacher at Edge Hill University and in various community settings, her debut collection ‘Safely Gathered in’ is both eclectic in its range and distinct in its voice, examining how the inexpressible often manifests itself in unexpected ways.
One of the punchiest pieces is also the shortest. ‘Termination Happy Meal’ is about ordering at a fast-food restaurant after a life-changing visit to a clinic. It lampoons how modernity gives us choices about absolutely everything, but the really important decisions come down to much more powerful forces.
‘Nostalgia4Beginners’ satirises the educational industrial complex. Its self-serious narration shows an organisation unwittingly revealing how formal teaching often stifles the exploration of spaces both inner and outer.
The opening piece, ‘Dead Man’s Switch’, is about a woman who regularly receives emails from her dead husband. It directly alludes to ‘William and Mary’ by Roald Dahl, but it owes more to another famous short story about posthumous family influence, ‘The Colonel’s Daughters’, in showing how people on the less powerful end of lopsided relationships often (on some level) enjoy it.
With descriptions of everyday objects and how ordinary people relate to them, every paragraph is overflowing with treasure. A simple description of cooking goes:
“Dad sets the garlic sizzling in a slick of butter. He slices yellow courgettes and tosses them in. He is nimble, but I see his wrist strain under the weight of the pan.”
Enjoyable and well-observed, ‘Safely Gathered in’ showcases a voice that is to consumerism what Kafka was to bureaucracy.
November 16, 2021
A volume of 17 short stories.
I’m not quite sure how to review Safely Gathered In as it is quite unlike other short story collections I’ve read. There’s a slightly surreal, unworldly quality to it with a kaleidoscopic blend of the prosaic, the dystopian, the futuristic, the unusual and the ordinariness of life, all melded into gorgeous prose that I found quite astounding. Safely Gathered In is beautifully written, intelligently constructed and utterly mesmerising. Direct speech feels natural and convincing, settings are evocatively depicted and characters spring to life in just a few words through Sarah Schofield’s wonderfully balanced writing.
In each story contained in Safely Gathered In there’s an intense microcosm of life and the emotions we experience, frequently projected through the objects with which we surround ourselves. Sarah Schofield’s final sentences in every story are a physical blow to the heart and soul of the reader as she distils all the meaning and emotion of the story into one stunning conclusion. Many of the emotions are on the darker spectrum of grief and loneliness with a longing for what the characters have lost or are searching for, making for a highly affecting read. Alongside the variety of voices and points of view, this has the effect of drawing in the reader and making them feel, as well as understand, how the characters themselves feel.
I’m aware I haven’t properly articulated what Safely Gathered In is, but that is because it’s so difficult to pin down. The collection is about grief, desire, ambition, loss, longing, unrealistic expectation, family, friendships, marriage and relationships. It’s about our past, our present and our future. It’s about the importance of the objects in our lives and the futility of attaching so much importance to them. I think it best to say Safely Gathered In is about humanity and you should read it. I thought it was excellent.
I’m not quite sure how to review Safely Gathered In as it is quite unlike other short story collections I’ve read. There’s a slightly surreal, unworldly quality to it with a kaleidoscopic blend of the prosaic, the dystopian, the futuristic, the unusual and the ordinariness of life, all melded into gorgeous prose that I found quite astounding. Safely Gathered In is beautifully written, intelligently constructed and utterly mesmerising. Direct speech feels natural and convincing, settings are evocatively depicted and characters spring to life in just a few words through Sarah Schofield’s wonderfully balanced writing.
In each story contained in Safely Gathered In there’s an intense microcosm of life and the emotions we experience, frequently projected through the objects with which we surround ourselves. Sarah Schofield’s final sentences in every story are a physical blow to the heart and soul of the reader as she distils all the meaning and emotion of the story into one stunning conclusion. Many of the emotions are on the darker spectrum of grief and loneliness with a longing for what the characters have lost or are searching for, making for a highly affecting read. Alongside the variety of voices and points of view, this has the effect of drawing in the reader and making them feel, as well as understand, how the characters themselves feel.
I’m aware I haven’t properly articulated what Safely Gathered In is, but that is because it’s so difficult to pin down. The collection is about grief, desire, ambition, loss, longing, unrealistic expectation, family, friendships, marriage and relationships. It’s about our past, our present and our future. It’s about the importance of the objects in our lives and the futility of attaching so much importance to them. I think it best to say Safely Gathered In is about humanity and you should read it. I thought it was excellent.
October 28, 2021
I enjoyed this little short story collection! I always enjoy a story with quietly unsettling notions and themes so this collection really delivered on that front.
As with all collections, some stories I gelled with better than others. I think a few went a little over my head and I often think short stories should come with a bit of context because they’re so small that I sometimes feel like I’m missing the point.
That being said, my favourite stories were Dead Man’s Switch, Two Feet Together (great Shirley Jackson vibes from this one!), Expectant Management, Rejoice, About You, and Shake Me and I Rattle.
Lots of these stories explore grief or loss in some way. Lots touch on the natural world and others look at how we find & accept comfort at the expense of others or ourselves. There is a melancholic tone to a lot of them but some also showed hope or were even funny in places.
A really interesting collection that I’m glad to have read! A great debut collection from Schofield, definitely one to watch!
Ad-gifted by the publishers Comma Press.
As with all collections, some stories I gelled with better than others. I think a few went a little over my head and I often think short stories should come with a bit of context because they’re so small that I sometimes feel like I’m missing the point.
That being said, my favourite stories were Dead Man’s Switch, Two Feet Together (great Shirley Jackson vibes from this one!), Expectant Management, Rejoice, About You, and Shake Me and I Rattle.
Lots of these stories explore grief or loss in some way. Lots touch on the natural world and others look at how we find & accept comfort at the expense of others or ourselves. There is a melancholic tone to a lot of them but some also showed hope or were even funny in places.
A really interesting collection that I’m glad to have read! A great debut collection from Schofield, definitely one to watch!
Ad-gifted by the publishers Comma Press.
February 16, 2023
Impressive sampler of short stories, in which the quirky meets the mundane, and quirky wins, hands down.
I particularly like the way that, however odd the circumstances of her characters in each story may seem, it's grounded in something that you could actually see happening -- young widow is haunted by "helpful" email reminders by her late husband, set up before he died. Granddaughter uses the latest trendy but dangerous herbal supplement to draw her grandmother back for the twilight zone of dementia.
The stories are strange, but only as strange as the world we live in.
I particularly like the way that, however odd the circumstances of her characters in each story may seem, it's grounded in something that you could actually see happening -- young widow is haunted by "helpful" email reminders by her late husband, set up before he died. Granddaughter uses the latest trendy but dangerous herbal supplement to draw her grandmother back for the twilight zone of dementia.
The stories are strange, but only as strange as the world we live in.
November 7, 2022
I really enjoyed this collection. Every story was surprising and often funny, despite being laced with loss. The plots are handled intelligently but also with great sensitivity and humour.
It's worth pointing out the the author link on Goodreads takes you to the wrong Sarah Schofield.
It's worth pointing out the the author link on Goodreads takes you to the wrong Sarah Schofield.
December 29, 2022
The range of subjects and genres covered is remarkable - something for everyone in this collection.
At times thought-provoking. Expectant Management was very moving. About You And Under The Foil are both cleverly crafted, I enjoyed them both.
At times thought-provoking. Expectant Management was very moving. About You And Under The Foil are both cleverly crafted, I enjoyed them both.
October 5, 2022
a heartfelt collection of life events; beautifully written !
December 22, 2025
It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me.
January 25, 2023
One of the best short story collections I read last year. Clever and beautifully written.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews