Unbound Alice Jolly
Review of the Unbound hardcover edition (to be released March 30, 2023)

[3.9 Average from the individual story ratings, rounded to 4]
I was so impressed with the title story when I first read it in Best British Short Stories 2021 that I immediately looked for information on author Alice Jolly’s upcoming short story collection and funded it at the Unbound crowdfunding platform. I have an early release copy of the book prior to its official March 30, 2023 publication.

I enjoyed all of this collection which is an anthology of Jolly's short stories which have appeared in various journals and literary collections in recent years. I found the longer stories to be the most interesting as they allowed for more character and story development. Jolly's historical fictions were especially interesting.

The following story synopses provide setups only and hopefully will not be considered spoilers:
1. Ray the Rottweiler **** A young woman, during walk with her child, befriends a man who keeps a yardful of Rottweiler dogs which he has rescued. You can read this story online at Prospect Magazine, December 11, 2014.
See image at https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/content/uploads/2014/12/fiction.jpg
Illustration for ‘Ray the Rottweiler’ by Vin Ganapathy, image sourced from Prospect Magazine.

2. Keep Right on to Eternity Road *** A simple descriptive story about driving around the countryside with a group of friends and occasionally asking for directions. It could probably be interpreted as a metaphor for life?

3. Frog Warning *** An apocalyptic story which involves the breakdown of language with alternative words being substituted for expected words. Part of the game for the reader is deciding what were the original words which were replaced by others.

4. Big Hugs and Kisses ***** A family becomes attached to a discarded doll found by the side of the road. This story was originally printed as a memoir in Hinterland Magazine Issue 6 Autumn 2020.
See image at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EozZdEKW4AAn4qG?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Image of “Big Hugs and Kisses” in Hinterland Magazine, 2020. Image sourced from Twitter.

5. Burn Before Reading *** A woman makes observations about her sister and their extended family. The woman herself had been rescued previously by her sister.

6. Safe Passage **** A woman has a vacation with her young son in a house in the countryside. The boy becomes obsessed with ensuring that a snail crossing the road is safe.

7. All the Places that I Have Not Seen **** A young girl, who is alone in house while her friends are out scavenging in their post-apocalyptic world, takes in a wandering stranger.

8. Here’s to the Hole that Never Heals ***** An elderly man discovers an alcoholic tramp on the street whom he knew from decades ago in army service with the Royal Engineers. He makes it his mission to save the man.

9. Mrs. Hopper Is Waving Her Arms ***** An historical fiction which imagines the life of Josephine Nivison (1883-1968) (the Mrs. Hopper of the title) who suppressed her own art in order to support the art of her husband Edward Hopper (1882-1967).
See image at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Josephine_Nivison_Hopper%2C_Self_...
A self portrait of Josephine Nivison Hopper. Image sourced from Wikipedia. By Josephine Hopper - Original publication: unknown, Immediate source: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/jo-nivison-hopper-2086277, Fair use, Link.

10. We All Know Mr. Jones **** Three schoolgirls make regular stops on their way home from school to visit Mr. Jones and his budgerigar birds. Mr. Jones has a problem which the community is aware of and one girl’s mother gives advice on how to deal with it.

11. For You, Hannah ** A menacing creep picks up a female hitchhiker. [I didn’t care for the subject matter, but the story is still well written.]

12. The Last House on the Marsh **** An 80-year-old woman is visited by her great-nephew. Meanwhile there is a storm approaching which will threaten the community.

13. Smooth and Sleek **** A story with two narrators told in alternating paragraphs. Narrator One lusts after material objects while Narrator Two is describing the terror of a wartime invasion and occupation.

14. The Stop **** A couple are arguing while driving in their car when they are stopped by a woman asking for assistance for an injured friend.

15. From Far Around They Saw Us Burn ***** A disturbing historical fiction account of the St. Joseph’s Orphanage fire in Cavan, Ireland on February 23, 1943 in which 35 young girls and one adult died, mostly because the nuns would not allow men in to rescue the girls who were dressed only in their nightclothes.

Trivia and Links
You can learn more about the Unbound book crowdfunding platform (which is based in the UK) at How It Works and see the selection of currently funding projects at Books and the published projects at Published.

A related effort by the Unbound team is the Backlisted Literary Podcast, for which you can find episodes here. ( )