Andrew reviews 'The Blotted Line' by Mehreen Ahmed

This is a pleasantly rewarding anthology of short fiction minced with allegory, fable, parable, and dreamscape. Exploring commonalities, contrasts, and unique diversities and quirks within human nature, within multi-cultural settings.

The writing - which at first seems geared toward YA - is actually quite a complex build in crafting each story and at the same time provides an easy flow. Most had me engaged guessing where the story was heading and how it would be resolved - each with a plausible, satisfying conclusion.

The characters have substance and personality, peppered attributes, variance, and interest, more than ample to care about their contributions and fate.

The author, Mehreen Ahmed mentions in the description, “...the characters in each tale lose something precious, not always in the sense of material possessions, but the loss of human values such as trust, freedom, and happiness.” Throughout, she adeptly captures the theme of ‘loss’ from numerous perspectives conjoining the 7 works as a collection.

I most liked the originality of “Black Coat” and the depth of “Of Note”.
I found “The Blotted Line” a pleasing collection.