Spotlight of The Red Grouse Tales by Leslie Garland

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RED GROUSE TALES

LESLIE GARLAND

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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.

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Told in The Red Grouse Inn, the universal appeal of these four charming, very different, adult, speculative, spiritual and philosophical tales will intrigue and entertain.

 

With beautiful and atmospheric imagery, surreal and paranormal concepts of angels, ghosts and devils, these modern fables will have you guessing, turning the pages and looking forward to the next one.

 

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PRAISE FOR THE RED GROUSE TALES:

 

Red Grouse Tales by Leslie Garland is a compelling set of short stories that explore topics both spiritual and worldly while uncovering universal truths for the reader. In true Leslie Garland style, each story within the book is written to spark new thought and contemplation for the reader. The author brings up social and religious issues and sets the framework for the reader to determine what they believe is right, or wrong. The book is divided into four short stories, each with a different set of adventures and a different theme. The chapters explore topics and ideas such as the impact of death, how we view others and why we view them in certain ways, the influence communities have upon their residents, and many other thought-provoking subjects. In each short story the author weaves together interesting characters, plots, and details, making for an enjoyable read."-5 star review by Sheena Monnin, Stellar Media Club

I enjoyed this collection of stories and would recommend them. One of my favorite parts of these short stories were the fable-like feeling. They each told a story with a surprising lesson attached to each. I also greatly enjoyed the way the stories were written. Each had a way of telling a story through another person, which made the reading interesting and fun for me. I think it was a nice, added detail that gave it a more authentic feeling of sitting around and hearing a tale as well as making it seem more like a fable. -Literary Titan review.

"The four stories in the Red Grouse tales were as entertaining as they were charming, and overall a really fun read. The different narrators of the stories I felt gave each tale a unique nature, and they felt quite different to each other but still just a fun. I read this through once myself and then read over a number of sitting to a (reasonably) young relative and he enjoyed it just as much as I had. This would also make a good candidate for a book club as many issues for discussion are thrown up in each of the four stories."-5 star review by Honeybee

The Red Grouse Tales: The Little Dog and Other Stories by Leslie Garland is a unique collection of four spiritual, philosophical, and mysterious novellas tinged with an element of the supernatural. With just a hint of the paranormal, they explore the various vices of humans. All the stories implore the reader to think about what is right and wrong. Biblical knowledge would help readers appreciate the stories more. I recommend The Red Grouse Tales to fans of speculative fiction. People seeking something different from their usual dose of thrillers/crime fiction can also pick it up.-Reviewed By Debjani Ghosh for Readers’ Favorite

"I have read all books by this author and they are all wonderful. If you are looking for a great storyteller that insightful and thought provoking this I highly recommend Leslie Garland. All of the stories in this book will make you take pause."-5 star review by Wanda B

"It was such a treat to read “The Red Grouse Tales” by Leslie Garland. The four short stories within this novel are thoroughly engaging contemporary allegories. I love John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” thus I was delighted by how deftly Garland interweaves the well-known archangels into these modern-day tales. “The Red Grouse Tales” consists of the most well-done and effective frame narratives I have come across in contemporary pieces of literature. Even more to Garland’s credit, I never considered the frame narrative to be overused across the four stories. The method seemed to be the perfect fit for each story. One of my favorite aspects of this collection of short stories is that the allegories never seemed heavy-handed or forced. I believe that the personalities of each story’s narrators were key to how engaging and relatable the allegories were. I loved the authenticity and likeability of each narrator and the glimpses into their sense of humor and personality quirks as they told their tale. I also appreciated the range of personalities and voices amongst the narrators. Overall, I highly recommend “The Red Grouse Tales” to readers who are interested in contemporary allegories, literature that references religious/religion-related narratives (particularly “Paradise Lost” and other works that involve the archangels), and well-written and effective frame narratives."-5 star review by Courtney Thomas

I enjoyed these stories! I hate to spoil anything so I will just say that you should read this book, you will love the paranormal.-Review by TDC Book Reviews

Move over Aesop...Modern Fables Do Exist
Garland's Red Grouse Tales are so very thought provoking. The stories in and of themselves, presented as records of stories told among friends, are compelling and kept me turning pages well into the wee hours when I should have been sleeping instead of reading. Garland masterfully weaves social commentary into tales of the uncanny without being heavy-handed or overbearing.
Thoroughly utilizing the story-as-lesson trope, Garland presents readers with gorgeously crafted stories which are excellent on the surface and yet also address larger concerns such as the nature of good and evil, heartbreak and betrayal, redemption, vengeance, gender equality, and simple pleasures versus material strife. Several times in each short story, I was drawn up short to re-read and thoughtfully consider what I'd just read - even though I desperately wanted to forge ahead and find out what happened next!
I'll be continuing my journey through the other Red Grouse Tales not included in this collection. I'll also be recommending these to educator friends and colleagues as discussion prompts.-5 star review by Whitney Reinhart
 

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ABOUT THE RED GROUSE TALES:

Told in The Red Grouse Inn, the universal appeal of these four charming, very different, adult, speculative, spiritual and philosophical tales will intrigue and entertain.

 

With beautiful and atmospheric imagery, surreal and paranormal concepts of angels, ghosts and devils, these modern fables will have you guessing, turning the pages and looking forward to the next one.



 

The Little Dog – a story of good and evil and retribution.

Bill, a retired forester, recounts a week in his early working life when he was paired with an unsavoury workmate. This commences with them finding a little domestic dog sitting beside a forest haul-road way out in a remote part of the forest, but what is a little dog doing in such an unlikely location? As the week goes on it becomes increasingly uncomfortable, the little dog disappears, events take an unexpected turn and our young troubled and naive Bill starts to learn some awful truths.

 

The Golden Tup - a dreadful tale of paradise being cruelly taken by latent evil.

This tale opens with the shocking news that a nice young couple have killed their new born baby. How could they have done such a dreadful thing? Our narrator, Verity, recalls how the pair bought an old derelict farmhouse and commenced renovating it; creating their own paradise. However, their felling an old tree changed everything.



 

The Crow - a poignant tale of misunderstanding, dying, bitterness and blame.

As a child, David, is taken to a hospice by his mother where he finds himself listening to an increasingly mad tale told by a dying and embittered old Irish priest. But why do the old priest’s recollections of the school days and subsequent rise of a local councillor become so increasingly bizarre and bitter?

 

The White Hart - a happy ghost story, if there can be such a thing!

What might connect a chance encounter with a little albino deer, an equally unexpected meeting with a beautiful, but somewhat enigmatic young girl in a remote chapel, and a third, just as strange an incident, on a windswept hillside? Pete Montague, relates a redemptive, adult, speculative, spiritual and philosophical happy ghost story - if there can be such a thing!

 

(Warning to sensitive readers; some tales do contain a tiny bit of bad language and references to sex)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I didn't start out in a career in writing; I qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer.

 

In this capacity I worked for several years on projects in the UK, the Far East and Africa. During this period I won the Institution of Civil Engineers 'Miller Prize' for a paper on tunnelling.

 

Perhaps my first foray into writing? It was a pretty dry technical piece. However my experience in tunneling has given me an exciting idea for a story which I hope will be a lot more fun than my engineering paper and I have just recently made a start on this.

 

Changing times resulted in a change in direction and after qualifying as an Associate Member of both the British Institute of Professional Photography and the Royal Photographic Society, started my own stock photograph library (the first in N.E.England) and wrote for the trade press.

 

The Internet was new in those days and not very reliable. So an unexpected break in my Internet connection fortuitously presented the time to make a start on a long cherished project of a series of novella length stories, and the first story of The Red Grouse Tales, was drafted. 

 

Three more 'Tales' followed. Since then I have completed a further two novellas (The Bat and The Blue Horse) and a novel (The Ghost Moth). Right now I am trying to complete a second batch of 'Tales' and am writing a trilogy.

 

More information on my website
http://www.lesliegarland.com 

 


Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/LeslieWPGarl and 
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