Doric – Alive an Kickin
|
‘Doric Alive an Kickin’ – is a collection of original Doric stories celebrating the unique character and humour of the North-east.
|
Comments about the Book " Deborah writes wi a fine free-flowin newsy Doric style and conjures up the North-east characters in aa their moods, maistly leanin on the earthy side. Gran to have another skeely Doric wordsmith using oor ain tongue - a tongue still vibrant today in a changing rural scene." Robbie Shepherd "Fu' o lauchter, frolic and hairt-waarmin stories." Marjory Gibbon Mitchell, M.A. Dip. Ed - fan o' the spik o' the lan' an' the fowk fa spik it Book Review by Laura Sellar Doric - Alive an Kickin is a wonderful collection of short stories from local author Deborah Leslie. It has been a whole year since the release of her children's novel Flumphaderries, Flanganans and the Real Book of Bennachie and now she is back working her magic in her latest venture aimed at a more mature audience. Written entirely in Doric, Deborah manages to capture the real characters of the North-east. An accomplished short story writer, she had previously been published in many national magazines and in the North-east's Leopard Magazine. Some of these stories feature in the omnibus that is Doric - Alive an Kickin' . Deborah successfully weaves together 14 Doric stories, including two award winners, of love, friendship and hope with great skill. Her comic timing is impeccable and is put to good use in the story Honesty is the Best Policy, my personal favourite. In it a man tries to find love amid the personal ads and gets a nasty shock on his blind date - see the front cover for a clue to Ronnie's scare. Also featured is a tale about a woman whose husband gives her a voucher for her birthday for beauty treatments or should that be beauty torture at Primp and Pummel - the name says it all. And there is and adventure for the McGregors on their first Majorcan holiday. But among all the humour are several stories that would make even the coldest heart melt; stories about real people and the tragedies that have befallen them. My John is a heart-rending tale of a woman whose son was taken away from her at his birth. Deborah writes with such eloquence and feeling that you become totally entangled in the plights of her characters. She cleverly brings them to life so that you recognise them; they could be your relatives, friends or neighbours. The situations they find themselves in are easily identifiable as they will have happened to you or someone you know at one time or another and this makes them all the more poignant or comical. There are few authors today who can give you that lump in your throat feeling one minute and have you crying with laughter the next. Doric - Alive an Kickin is the funniest book I have read in a long time. It brings to life the real earthy people of the North-east and their sense of honesty has been captured by Deborah in a wonderfully hysterical read that should definitely appear in every North-east Christmas stocking this year.