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    Madame Zero: 9 Stories
    Madame Zero: 9 Stories
    Madame Zero: 9 Stories
    Audiobook4 hours

    Madame Zero: 9 Stories

    Written by Sarah Hall

    Narrated by Billie Fulford-Brown

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    From one of the most accomplished British writers working today, the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Wolf Border, comes a unique and arresting collection of short fiction that is both disturbing and dazzling.

    Sarah Hall has been hailed as ""one of the most significant and exciting of Britain’s young novelists"" (The Guardian), a writer whose ""intelligence and ambition are thrilling to behold"" (BookForum). Her work has been acclaimed as ""amazing . . . terrific and original"" (Washington Post). In this collection of nine works of short fiction, she uses her piercing insight to plumb the depth of the female experience and the human soul.

    A husband’s wife transforms into a vulpine in ""Mrs. Fox,"" winner of the BBC Short Story Prize. In ""Case Study 2, "" A social worker struggles with a foster child raised in a commune. A new mother runs into an old lover in ""Luxury Hour."" In incandescent prose, full of rich observations and striking clarity, Hall has composed nine wholly original pieces—works of fiction that will resonate long after the final word is heard.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJul 25, 2017
    ISBN9780062681522
    Author

    Sarah Hall

    Sarah Hall was born in Cumbria. She is the prizewinning author of six novels and three short story collections. She is a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award, Edge Hill Short Story Prize, among others, and the only person ever to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice. 

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    Reviews for Madame Zero

    4/5

    55 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is a dizzyingly literary collection of dark, sometimes dystopian, female-focused short stories. I really liked most of them and really did not like the first and last stories in the book, both of which were told from the perspective of a husband whose wife starts acting oddly (one turns into a fox, the other becomes uncharacteristically hedonistic -- one of these transformations is explained and the other isn't, but both the husband and wife in each are equally frustrating). The other stories have wildly different subjects but all cling to a similar sense of impending dread and unexplained disconnection: the case notes of a social worker as she helps a child recently rescued from an unusual commune; a British woman on an unnerving hike with her new boyfriend and his childhood best friend in South Africa; a new mother who runs into a former lover walking home from her "me time" at the neighborhood pool; and (one of my favorites) a young man who has learned to survive in a world where the wind won't stop blowing and almost everyone else has died (but who just wants to have a nice Christmas). Even though I didn't like every story, they were all compelling, unique, and hard to put down. Worth a check-out for a well-rounded contemporary short story fix.
    • 4/5
      (I've been awaiting the LibraryThing Early Reviewers copy to arrive so finally found a copy in the public library to read.) This is a strong collection of short stories with 3 or 4 standouts. Many are set in dystopian or surreal surroundings and are exploring feminine topics. Wives, mothers, girls, pregnant or transfigured, are impacted in various ways by a relationship, nature, illness, or disaster. I thought the first and last stories were the most memorable and reflect the striking, unmistakable talent of Sarah Hall.
    • 4/5
      "What can be decided in a few moments that will not be questioned for a lifetime?"Sarah Hall's MADAME ZERO is a wildly original and imaginative collection. The stories are dark and unsettling, and often very funny indeed. You're never comfortable reading these stories, and I value that.I'd previously read the two award-winning stories that bookend the collection: "Mrs. Fox" and "Evie." Otherwise this was my first experience with Hall's short fiction. Not all of the stories were entirely successful for me, but each one had strong writing and an unexpected delight or two. Oddly, perhaps, given her reputation, I was surprised to find that the high-concept and fabulist stories were the ones that didn't work as well for me. Some of them felt contrived and perhaps too clever by half.I preferred her stories that dealt with the awkwardness and sadness of everyday life, with characters that were fully realized and deeply human. "Luxury Hour" is a terrific story in which a recent first-time mother has a chance encounter with a former lover. And the heartbreaking and funny "Goodnight Nobody" walks us through a young girl's unusual family life. Give me these "normal" stories from Hall every time over her overtly shocking and bizarre ones. But maybe that's just me.All in all, I enjoyed this fine collection very much, and I won't forget some of these stories any time soon. Strongly recommended.(Thank you to Custom House for a complimentary advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.)
    • 5/5
      A mixture of love, life and death combined with some animal symbolism, fascinating characters and great story telling. A must read!
    • 2/5
      This is a tricky one for me to review. Out of 9 stories I really only cared for 3. So since most of the stories just didn't do it for me, I feel like I have to rate this collection 2/5. I feel bad for giving such a low rating because there isn't a whole lot that I would consider wrong about this collection, just that it didn't really appeal to me personally. I felt that there was meant to be deeper meanings to a lot of Hall's stories but I did not have it in me to sit and ponder it while reading (which is something that happens to me from time to time with certain things I read, not having the patience). I wouldn't go out and buy it and I doubt I will ever revisit it. But I'm sure others will enjoy it.
    • 5/5
      Run, don't walk, and read this short story collection! Unique stories, tremendous human understanding, marvelous characters, and just good reading! I will definitely check out more of this author's work. i particularly liked the story of transformation, "Mrs. Fox".
    • 4/5
      I won't lie, the stories are not bright and cheerful - each is a downer and each deals with a flawed or damaged relationship or a significant change in a relationship. Most of the stories are fantastical, but they all felt worth the read. Hall has talent in weaving a tail and painting a picture. I think there will be great things ahead for her.
    • 5/5
      Sarah Hall has written a remarkable collection of short fiction.There are stories from first, second, and third person, with points of view from women, men, boys, and girls in many combinations of personality and sophistication.Maybe four of the selections confused me. Hall has a grasp of medical language and an extensive vocabulary. Five of the nine stories were wonderful. The first one in the book, "Mrs. Fox," is the best thing I've read in some time. It is about a man, a woman, and a fox, told beautifully, a story to read slowly and savored. It would be a shame to give away the plot, which grows from ordinary to fantastic and back to ordinary in ways that were completely believable to me.
    • 4/5
      I received this book of stories by Sarah Hall from the Early Reviewers program. I have read other works by Ms. Hall and enjoyed her previous work so I was thrilled to have the chance to review this new book. The stories in Madam Zero are all executed very well. They are all subtle without being obtuse and are easy to absorb without being obvious. I particularly enjoyed Evie, Luxury Hour and Later His Ghost. If you want stories you can jump into, feel the world of the story surround you quickly, then get out feeling satisfied, this is a book for you.Well done, Sarah!
    • 4/5
      In the short story collection "Madame Zero" writer Sarah Hall has produced nine stories which explore the nature of being human and individual. in both the first and last stories a woman changes beyond recognition and the husband choses how to respond. In the first story when the wife is transformed into a fox the husband clings desperately to his love for her and the hope for a reversal. In the last story, the wife suffers a complete change in personality and the husband eagerly indulges in the new, alarming and aggressively sexualized persona without giving much thought to any underlying cause. Another story relates the case history of a child who has been raised in a chaotic commune setting and has awareness of neither his own individuality nor boundaries between self and others. In "Later, His Ghost" a man battles alone through continuous gale-force winds after a climatic disaster, scavenging for food and remnants that can remind him of what means to be human. It feels as if each story is challenging the reader to consider how they might respond in similar situations - would they prove to be human or something less?
    • 4/5
      I really wanted to be dazzled by this because I found the brief descriptions of the nine stories to be so intriguing. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed and I'm still not entirely sure why. I came away with the feeling that this was a creative writing exercise that got published. It's....fine with solid writing and varied, even unexpected stories. But it lacks something vital to bring it to life and/or maybe to give the collection of stories a cohesive feel? Things We Lost in the Fire is similarly unsettling, similar in length and it's the better of the two. I read Madame Zero over a long holiday weekend and now - two days after finishing it - I can generally describe a couple of stories, but most of them didn't land and I can't tell you whether there's an overarching theme here. Meh. If you're crazy about short stories or have a thing for this author, go for it, but otherwise....plenty of other fish in the sea.