Last year’s SFINCS winner, Sara Chorn’s A Sorrow Named Joy, has a new cover. And we’re delighted to help show it off.
The novella is the kind of story that somehow manages to be at once both timeless and a very on point commentary of the world at the moment. It’s also not your typical fantasy tale, or even Urban Fantasy, although it does take place in present-day time.
Here’s how the book describes itself:
Joy desires nothing more than her husband’s happiness. She spends her days creating the perfect life for him in their idyllic suburban home. Everything is neat, predictable, and in its place.
When Joy finds a picture that hints at a past she cannot remember, the facade cracks. As secrets are revealed, Joy realizes her blissful life is crumbling and to find herself, she must first lose herself.
Perfect, after all, is only an illusion.
I had the pleasure of reading A Sorrow Named Joy as part of the judging effort for SFINCS last year, and since the review never ended up here on the website, I’m happy to share it now.
Review: A Sorrow Named Joy
By Sarah Chorn
A Sorrow Named Joy is a slow story, but not slow in a boring and tedious way. Rather, it’s relaxed and pleasant and takes its time to do both very little and very much. It’s a small and simple story, but it’s built from large and difficult ideas. Like a lazy afternoon breeze and discovering an interesting new scent on the wind.
Joy’s life is perfect. She lives in a perfect little house, and she loves her husband dearly. She cooks his meals to perfection, and she keeps her garden in perfect order. Everything’s perfect, and she’s happy.
She really is. It’s not just something she’s telling herself or a facade she’s built to hide some dark secret from the world. Joy’s life is great.
Until it isn’t.
One morning, Joy discovers a past she has no memory of, and her story is about what happens after that.
It took me some time to get into the story, but I believe that’s due to me not being in the right mood for it when I started. I put the book away and left it a few days, and when I picked it up again, I had a much easier time getting into it.
The writing itself is impeccable, but the voice and the pacing is such that it didn’t grab me right away. Rather, it slowly gripped me in a way I barely noticed until I found myself fascinated with Joy and her situation.
I received a free copy of this book as part of the SFINCS novella competition. The views of this review are my own and do not represent my team’s final score.
Well, there you have it. All that remains is to share the gorgeous new cover.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
