Children's Children

"Carson’s debut collection, Children’s Children, offers 15 sharply written and inventive stories that focus on the family and its role in society... Her stories move effortlessly from reality to dystopia to surreal vignettes in a style that recalls the up-and-coming American authors Laura van den Berg and Diane Cook." ~Sarah Gilmartin, The Irish Times

"The author writes with a distinct and original voice. Her prose is rich and satisfying offering up the humour and poignancy of the folk she creates with heart-rending perceptiveness... It was pure pleasure to read these tales. The author has an eye and a zest for what is behind the facades people present to others, and can capture these observations with turns of phrase that delight. I could quote again and again but out of context the acuity may be lost. Buy this book and enjoy for yourselves." ~Jackie Law, neverimitate

"The characters in the stories are mostly ordinary folk, but they have something that sets them apart and makes them struggle. This is reflected in Carson's remarkable ability to write passages that combine the mundane with original and telling observation... In contrast to most short story collections, which usually have a few less strong stories among the good, I found all the stories in the collection strong and moving." ~Zoe Brooks, Magic Realism

"In this new collection, Carson invites us to look afresh at our society, and at how we treat our most vulnerable; our young, elderly, demented or simply lonely citizens. A prayer of a book, without a word of preaching, even in the penultimate story which is a gentle, carefully nuanced look at faith, and how it is absorbed and passed on. Highly recommended." ~Orla McAlinden, Sacred Chickens

"HERE is Northern Ireland – both as you know it and as you’ve never seen it before. In her new short story collection, Children’s Children (the follow-up to 2014’s critically acclaimed debut novel Malcolm Orange Disappears), Ballymena-born author Jan Carson proves herself adept at making the familiar marvellously uncanny... Carson’s writing – bracingly fresh, darkly funny, unwaveringly compassionate – represents such a direction in Northern Irish fiction." ~Tara McEvoy, The Irish News