LIES OF TENDERNESS BY STEPHEN VOLK

24/5/2022

there’s a real sense of anger in many of these stories; a sense of profound dissatisfaction with the brutality of the status quo, and a desire for things to be other, better.

Lies Of Tenderness by Stephen Volk - A Review

Lies Of Tenderness is Stephen Volk’s latest collection from PS Publishing; seventeen short stories, plus an introduction by Priya Sharma and a generous set of story notes.

And it’s superb.

The collection starts with The Holocaust Crasher; the tale of an elderly man who has discovered a newfound sense of purpose in old age by touring schools and delivering speeches-plus-Q&As to classes of schoolchildren about his experiences surviving the holocaust. The only slight wrinkle being that his number tattoo is drawn on with biro, because he’s an imposter, delivering stories synthesised from studying history.

So much of what makes Volk such a brilliant writer is encapsulated in this tale. For starters, there’s the voice - the narrative is first person, so we’re inside the mind of the main character from the opening, seeing the deceit play out almost in real-time. The man is avuncular and honest (er, well, with us, anyway), and as repellent as his behaviour is, I found it increasingly hard not to enjoy his company. It’s an incredibly accomplished character portrait.

Then there’s the simple brilliance of that core conceit; what makes someone live a lie? And what makes this someone pick that particular lie? One of the things Volk talks about in the story notes afterwards is how he’s especially attracted to stories where it’s, on the surface, hard to sympathise with a protagonist or position; one is left with the impression that in some cases the stories come from an attempt to make sense of the apparently nonsensical.

That tendency is certainly on display in this opening tale, and I was left marvelling at Volk’s ability to generate interest and sympathy for such an on-the-surface unlikeable character, as well as weaving a narrative that I’ve found my mind returning to again and again since I completed my initial read.

It’s a thread that is woven into many of the tales that follow; The Little Gift and Adventurous feature very different takes on adulterous relationships, Sicko takes in a thief who has a date with cinematic history (or, does she?), and Bad Langage is a gut-wrenching journey into the dark side of grief and rage. In many of these stories, people are committing immoral, even monstrous acts; but regardless of the consequences, Volk doesn’t stint on displaying their essential humanity, frailties and strengths, virtues, and sometimes fatal flaws.

Another thing that makes the collection impressive is how these elements sit alongside tales of the mystical and mythical. Agog and A Meeting at Knossos take us behind the eyes of ancient mythical creatures, while The Airport Gorilla gives us a modern mythology to chew on, from the perspective of the titular stuffed toy. And if that sounds funny, well… it is.

At first.

Then there are the moments where these modes of storytelling collide (in what happen to be two of my favourite stories in this exceptional collection): Outside of Truth or Consequences and the previously mentioned Adventurous. The former is an absolute classic tale of American crime fiction meets The Twilight Zone, with a twist ending that still makes me grin to recall. And Adventurous pulls off the amazing feat of presenting a central conceit that is gleefully demented and yet manages to be simultaneously hilarious and oddly touching, all at once. And I think the why of how it works is instructive about the collection as a whole; Volk is alive to the absurdity of the situation, but, crucially, never sells the characters short, and their sincerity gives proceedings a quiet pathos that accentuates the comedy.

Two other stories fell somewhat into that glorious Twilight Zone mode, for me; The House That Moved Next Door and Beat The Card Home, though I note there’s elements of that genre of storytelling in Vardoger and even The Flickering Light, in a way. One of the things I enjoyed about the collection is Volk’s ability to move between stories of naturalism and tales of the supernatural (and even mythical); because of his commitment to realism in terms of the characters, as a reader I was never sure which way the stories were going to turn - and indeed with The Flickering Light I found a pleasing ambiguity that left a lingering impression.

Another thread that runs through the collection, in the best possible way, is a sense of Volk’s social conscience. In addition to being attracted to ‘difficult’ subjects and people, there’s a real sense of anger in many of these stories; a sense of profound dissatisfaction with the brutality of the status quo, and a desire for things to be other, better. Elements of this approach abound, but these tendencies are especially pronounced in The Black Cat (which takes on historic racism with a brutal directness, without ever for a moment spilling into prurience) and another personal favourite, Unchain the Beast, which is a genuinely thrilling story that also poses some really tough, fundamental questions about the role of art in the face of brutal authoritarianism.

In summary, Lies Of Tenderness is another absolutely outstanding collection from Stephen Volk, a writer who continues to challenge, to grapple with contentious ideas, and subjects, and who in the process produces work with an incredible range of moods, textures and emotions, but which are united by an exceptional level of quality. It’s an absolute belter of a collection, in other words, and I recommend it enthusiatisically and unreservedly.

KP
20/5/22

A woman parks her car outside a fateful, familiar motel. The last giant of Albion finds connection with a soul not long for this world. A lightning-struck man seeks meaning for his longing and loss.

In this new, startlingly wide-ranging collection, Stephen Volk explores hidden truths and secret wishes, deceit and delusion, the paths not taken, and the pang of dreams unrealised. Proof once again he is “once of the most provocative and unsettling of contemporary writers” – with seventeen tales that break boundaries, and will break your heart.

CONTENTS
Introduction by Priya Sharma
The Holocaust Crasher
The Airport Gorilla
The House That Moved Next Door
Unchain the Beast
Outside of Truth or Consequences
The Little Gift
The Black Cat
Beat the Card Home
Vardøger
A Meeting at Knossos
Sicko
The Naughty Step
Adventurous
The Flickering Light
Bad Language
Agog
Orr
Story Notes & Acknowledgements

PURCHASE A COPY DIRECT FROM PS PUBLISHING HERE