Between Here And Knitwear

Between Here And Knitwear is a collection of short stories by Chrissie Gittins, published by Norwich’s Unthank Books. (Publishers of Words And Women’s fantastic anthologies too!) The collection has just been shortlisted for a 2016 Saboteur Award in the category of Best Short Story Collection, and we wanted to tell you a little more about it because we think it’s a fine read and you may want to get a copy – along with one of our anthologies! – for your summer reading.

 The collection is comprised of twenty-two cleverly linked stories, written over two decades. The stories trace a life from childhood to middle age. Beginning in Lancashire in the ‘60s and ‘70s, they follow a young girl as she becomes aware of what it means to be a daughter, a sister, a lover and a woman in a family where the relationships are constantly changing. From a disappeared clutch of curlew’s eggs to the last piece of furniture left standing in a home, these bleak and funny stories bolster what is lost into poignant narratives.

Here is some praise for Chrissie’s previous work:

"She's like a female Alan Bennett, such is the power of her observation."Zoe King on Family Connections

"It's the polished laconic storytelling – and the way this combines with the subject matter, which is often profoundly sad, even painful – but never flat, never gloomy, never depressing. Chrissie Gittins has a real voice and it comes out with the apparently effortlessness which is the mark of finished writing."Helen Dunmore on Family Connections
 "Chrissie Gittins is a real writer with a bleak, accurate and often very funny take on the drab lives most of us lead. Above all she understands the brutal economy you need for a really successful short story."Nigel Williams on Family Connections
 If you’d like to read more about Chrissie and the writing of Between Here And Knitwear then click here.