BACKSTORIES by Simon Van der Velde #RBRT

3.5 out of 5 stars

On  Amazon UK
On  Amazon.com
On  Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In A Nutshell: Short stories with a fun theme.

This is a novel idea - a series of easy-read short stories, each one an imagined snapshot of the early years of a well-known person, but 'the reveal' doesn't come until the end, so you can have a good time guessing the identity of the main character as you read.  

They're clearly well-researched; I guessed all of them except one (Past Time), which was about someone I'd heard of without knowing anything about their life; however, I was able to do 'swapsies' with another member of the review team, as I knew a couple that she didn't!  

Slight downsides - I found some were made too obvious; I'd have an idea who it was, then instead of there being a more telling hint at the end, it was given away too early or spelled out in black and white, and then underlined (metaphorically).  Not all of them, just some.  Also, the nature of the theme does rather tempt one to rush through to spot the clues, rather than just reading the story at a normal pace.  They're all nicely written but, for me, lacked that 'X' factor.  This is, of course, only down to personal taste.

My favourites were The Blank Face, Preserved in Amber and Tonight's The Night.