Slipping the Moorings

McCallum-Smith creates vivid portraits of individuals who bear the scars of failed relationships, misunderstood intentions, sexual and physical abuse, and spiritual isolation. These stories move from the 19th to the 21st centuries, taking readers to a Mexican colonial city, visitors’ day at a Glasgow prison, Belle Epoch New York, the contemporary art scene of London, villages of Scotland’s rugged coast, and to Montreal, where a hockey fan’s interest leads to a dilemma. McCallum-Smith’s ability to give a comic and wry edge to a dark scene, to capture the patois of high and low society, to navigate the turbulent waters of dysfunctional families, and to pull her readers through the emotional undertow of these stories attests to the power of her voice. Her masterful use of syntax and figurative language and her talent for finding the right images to convey mood and setting give her work its immediacy and its keen sense of place, creating elements of lasting beauty and transcendent insight.