Goodbye & Hello

I'm always uneasy about anthologies written to order: their inspiration must surely come in part from the stimulus of a deadline rather than the need to write something so deeply felt it demands expression. That's the feeling with several of these offerings from Ireland and Australia which rely on formulae so tried and tested they decay into cliche. There are some gems - Eilis Dillon's The Letter', Nadia Wheatley's 'The Convict Box' and Martin Waddell's The Butterfly Girl', but in the main it's too easy for the reader to predict early on what's going to happen. However, at £3.99 for 16 stories this is a good value - if uneven - collection.