Review: 'Frail Little Embers' by Fija Callaghan

Everyday life is complicated and frequently miserable, but sometimes, it is also filled with magic and wonder. In Frail Little Embers, Fija Callaghan presents twenty-one stories in which the normal and usual is given a tinge of the otherwordly, with a strong focus on hope and resilience. While the stories didn't entirely work for me individually, Callaghan creates a wonderful atmosphere across the collection. Thanks to Neem Tree Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 06/03/2025
Publisher: Unbound; Neem Tree Press

An illustrated collection of 21 short stories about hope, transformation, and finding light within the dark.

A masquerade mask reveals a young woman’s innermost secrets. A grieving woman uses cocoa beans to open a door between worlds. Leaving her thesis behind, a graduate student crosses into fairyland. An aging grandmother recounts her post-war encounter with a shapeshifter who brought out new desires.

Myth, folklore, and magic come together as characters in this heartwarming collection to conquer everyday challenges with strength and resilience.

Frail Little Embers contains twenty-one different stories, focusing on different characters and settings, although many are rooted in Ireland and England. When I first started the collection, I was really surprised by how short the stories were. I appreciate that this might be suggested by the category, "short story", but I am nonetheless used to short stories that span multiple pages, threatening to turn into novellas. Many of the stories in Frail Little Embers are a handful of pages long, but, although I very much had to get used to it, I would say that each story is individuated properly, meaning different characters, settings, set-up, etc. However, due to their brevity, there is a risk that they don't really stick with the reader. For me, they left behind various images, little glowing embers, even, which over the course of reading the collection added to a general feeling of warmth. Unlike other collections, I think Frail Little Embers works best as a whole, rather than as individual stories. There is a magic which Callaghan weaves across the stories that has the most impact once you've read the whole thing. It is almost like a piece of music, in that sense. Each story is an individual note which, while nice, doesn't necessarily leave a lasting impression. Together, however, they form a beautiful melody which will stick with the reader. The collection is also illustrated, but this didn't come across very well on my Kindle, so I cannot really comment on that aspect of the book.

I haven't read anything by Callaghan before, but I did very much enjoy her writing throughout Frail Little Embers. Considering how short the stories are, I was impressed by how each does feel a little different, even in style. The collection was, as the blurb suggests and Callaghan also states in the 'About the Author' section of the book, 'created to inspire hope in times of darkness'. This finds expression in almost every story, where a magical turn, a small kindness, a revelation, turns the story towards a hopeful conclusion, or at least points in a hopeful direction. I don't know what this says about me (although I have my suspicions), but this occasionally struck me as a little twee. I had to move past my own cynicism, especially at the beginning of the collection, and only once I had managed that did the collection begin to really work for me. So for readers like me, who might be quick to roll their eyes, give it some time, suspend your disbelief, and perhaps you'll also walk away from Frail Little Embers with a spark of warmth. I will say that I see a potential difficulty there as well, though. I read the collection across a sunny Sunday afternoon and because of that, the cumulative effect of the stories really did its thing. With how short the stories are, there is also the high chance you might dip in and out of it across days and weeks, during a commute or on a lunchbreak, and I don't know how that effect will work then. It might still absolutely do the trick, sparking little fires in your everyday, or it might lessen it a little. However, Frail Little Embers has lovely imagery, plays beautifully with folklore, myth, and magic, and is full of intriguing ideas.

I give this collection...

4 Universes!

Frail Little Embers is a surprising collection. Reading it almost feels like wandering through a house and getting small peeks into different rooms but never really lingering anywhere. I might not know the rooms very well, but I think I understand the house. I'd recommend this collection to anyone with an interest in English and Irish folklore and legend, and to those who need a little spark to lighten the dark days.