Product Description

Deeply funny and thoroughly entertaining, Helen Simpson's new book of short stories deals with - among other things - time and change. As they chart tantrums, funerals, pregnancy, war and love affairs, these stories unroll with piercing wit and sympathy. One woman finds grief for her lost lover is assuaged by involvement in some carpentry repair work. Another grows increasingly angry as the grim reaper scythes through her circle, with farcical and tragic results. Elsewhere, a foreign correspondent receives an unwanted ultimatum, a South London builder avenges the duping of his adored mother, and a chlorinated changing-room encounter brings about a much-needed break with the past. And in the title story, a circular walk on Hampstead Heath leads to revelations involving feats of memory, a Shakespearian heroine, crossword clues, nonagenarians, and new life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130937 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Guardian, 25 October 2006
'Helen Simpson makes the art of short-story writing seem
uncomplicated, yet each intricately wrought collection further confirms her
depth'

The Times, 25 October 2006
'Full of wry reflection and crisply observed moments, it shows
Helen Simpson at her most compulsively readable'

Evening Standard
"Simpson's deft precision means Constitutional is never less than
bracing"

Customer Reviews

Constitutional by Helen Simpson (reviewed by Kelvin M. Knight)
I must be honest, if I had seen Constitutional in a bookshop or online, the cover would not have grabbed my attention. If not for the Bridport Prize, this collection of short stories would have flown under my radar. I am so glad it did not.

To begin with, there is no hint as to the nine stories' origins or pedigree. This air of anonymity is continued with no author acknowledgements whatsoever, only a fanfare of accolades from the big hitting national newspapers. So it was with trepidation I stepped inside Helen Simpson's world.

I need not have worried. The Door creaks opens (actually it was smashed open by burglars) and her unique style takes you by the hand; leads you on a scenic journey where the contrasting characters (predominately women) have all manner of adversities hurled at them and yet they survive. Reading the stories is like holding a mirror to yourself, to your daily bump and grind, and seeing how you survive.

The Year's Midnight is a tale of Christmas woe in a public swimming bath where a girl bawls out of control for her Daddy. Only Father Christmas gets anywhere close to consoling her; certainly not her mother, but a girl herself, who spurns help by wailing about her sad lot. Still, she has nicely-coloured hair. I particularly liked the view of the swimmers and the reasons for their health kicks: design flaws, anything and everything can go wrong with the human mind and body. This disease (hell all the diseases you can name) spread thematically into Every Third Thought where people start dying like buses: none for ages then all at once! I loved the rapier speech centred around the book group meeting (p26-7).

Early One Morning has Zoe battling a black dog of a marriage; on the plus side she has an amazing grasp of the English language, sent me scampering for cover in my dictionary. All she craves is not to be taken for granted. So begins the daily school crawl (read run), again. The conversations between the children on the back seat are wonderfully observed. At the end, her wish comes true in typical fairy tale fashion. Ahhh, simple things that make all mothers' hearts sigh: and house husband's, Helen, we are not for the chop yet... Unlike The Tree (one of two male viewpoint stories) where life and limb and the garden wall are pitted against a lovely old lady's touching slip into senility.

This is in stark contrast to, If I'm Spared, where we follow an unforgiving fleet street hack, Tom, and his forbearing (and irritating) wife, Barbara. The Good Life this story is not as the big C strikes, forcing Tom to change the habits of a life.

The Phlebotomist's Love Life will probably be the lead story when this collection launches in the U.S.A. as it deals with the controversial subject of the Gulf War. I liked the implication between getting blood out of a stone and love from a man. Poor old Patricia and her robotic three-minute cycles. Men are from Mars. No wonder all they want is sex, with no thought for the fruit of their loins becoming an apple of the earth in humanity's inhuman war after war.

Drop the morbidity, roll in the humour. The Green Room had me chuckling my Christmas stockings off as the spry elf Holly reigns (sorry) physical and mental bonhomie on the hapless Pamela. I loved the ending.

The ecliptic journey concludes with a lunchtime Constitutional around Hampstead Heath for a learned schoolteacher, fretting about her life while the overtones of O.C.D. play second fiddle to the weighty inevitability of genetic senility.

Some people may bemoan the diminutive size of this collection and complain about value for money. To them, I hear my wise old Nan (bless her soul) espouse, `Quality not quantity!'

A lunchtime walk
Deceptively simple and brief, these stories are resonant with thought and feeling, delicate pieces of writing that shine with craft and care. It is difficult to pick out a favourite - two of them I had read before and these were every bit as good as I remembered. Among the others, If I'm Spared is as sharp as a knife, dissecting the self-serving thought processes of a philandering husband who finds himself grateful for his neglected wife when he is diagnosed as having lung cancer, but, when the diagnosis is discovered to be wrong and it is TB he has, just as adroitly returns to his philandering ways. Helen Simpson seems as able to effortlessly enter the mind of an unsympathetic as she is a sympathetic character. Perhaps the best, is the title story, which details a lunchtime walk by an ageing teacher who has discovered she is pregnant. Beautifully astute and deeply thought-provoking, this is a beautiful and somehow timeless story.

That's what I call easy-reading!
After my Creative Writing lecturer recommended me this book for inspiration, I could not put it down. It is short and I read it in a space of 2 days.
Helen Simpson is a great writer. The stories are clever and funny and I simply love the way she makes everyday (stressful) situations seem so light and obvious.
The reason why I did not give it a 5* is because I didn't particularly like "Early One Morning".
I will definately be reading some more of Helen Simpson's books... They are truly lovely little stories!