Subscribe to my newsletter

Enjoy my writing?
Tales from the Seaside
You will thoroughly enjoy them

​Tales from the Seaside is a humorous collection of short stories reflecting on life by the seaside, attempts to successfully wrangle two small children and the result of being inspired by the sun, the sand and the sea. The perfect beach read, it will have you chuckling in your deckchair.

​Winner of the 2018 Best Indie Book of the Year award.
Available on Amazon
Read the reviews on Amazon
Read the reviews on Goodreads
Picture
"Oh I do like to be beside the seaside"
One of the nice things about short story collections by authors is that you can see them stretching their writing muscles. Freed from the need to frame a longer narrative, the short story is a playground, to test out different styles, different ideas. That's what Claire Buss does very nicely here. There are poems, a wittily constructed fake work module, a script, all capturing the beauty of mundanity, the delightful decay of British seaside life. Pop down to any seaside town and you can see the characters from this book, picking their way delicately to the water then scampering back, their boldness vanquished by the chill of the water, or bickering about holiday destinations, or complaining about needing to go to the toilet. It's a slice of life, perfectly captured. I particularly liked Maud and the Runner, a story of people watching growing into friendship. Claire also includes the opening chapters of two of her novels to give a glimpse of her longer work. What I enjoy here is the subtlety, the gentle recreation of our own world, all while holding it up as perhaps something ridiculous, perhaps something essential. It's a short read - and charming throughout its length.
Stephen Hunt
(c) CB Visions, Claire Buss, The Gaia Effect and other works 2016 - present date.
Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Claire Buss, the piece of work used and CB Visions with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Read my privacy policy here.