Episode 53: Little Heart by Georgina Bruce

Classic Ghost Stories

Tony Walker

Fiction, Drama, Science Fiction

4.9 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2020

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Georgina BruceGeorgina Bruce is a British writer, born in the West Midlands of England but who has taught English in different parts of the world, not least in sub-tropical Okinawa in Japan before spending the last ten years or so teaching in less sub-tropical Edinburgh, Scotland.Little HeartLittle Heart is a dark tale that explores a woman's confused memories of her childhood and her conflicted relationships with her mother, once a film star, and her father who smells of ink and paper and at times is indistinguishable from a dark-beaked crow.Full of luscious imagery, the story reminded me of the work of Angela Carter and Shirley Jackson with its fairytale themes and dark twists.In the interview Georgina talks about her influences and the nature of her stories. She has just finished a novella Honeybones, and this story comes from her very well-reviewed collection This House of WoundsGeorgina's Linkshttp://www.georginabruce.com/tag/honeybones/ (Her Website Monster Soup)https://undertowpublications.com/shop (Her publisher Undertow Publications)https://amzn.to/2TBPpOw (This House of Wounds on Amazon UK)https://amzn.to/2X2d1Ow (This House of Wounds on Amazon.com)Call to Action! Patreon!A big thank you to my Patreon supporters. These ongoing pledges help me continue to produce the Podcast, paying as they do for hosting and other ongoing costs. If you have enjoyed listening to this, and other episodes, I would like to invite you to consider becoming a Patreon to help me produce more of what you enjoy!As well as helping me out, Patreons get exclusive content, usually in the form of stories that are not available for free elsewhere.If you could sign up, I would be extremely grateful.Tonyhttps://www.patreon.com/barcud (Here's the Link)Support Us!Ways to support Tony to keep doing the show:https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/classic-ghost-stories-923395 (Share and rate it!)http://bit.ly/2QKgHkY (Buy Tony a coffee) to help with the long nights editing!Become a http://bit.ly/barcudpatreon (Patreon) to get additional stuff and allow the show to go on in the long term. Facebook GroupWhy not join Classic Ghost Stories Podcast on https://www.facebook.com/classicghoststories/ (Facebook) for the lastest news?MusicBeginning music ‘Some Come Back’ is by the marvellous https://theheartwoodinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/witch-phase-four (Heartwood Institute)Support the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Little Heart How do the dead come back, mother? What's the secret?
0:23.6	Little Heart by Georgina Bruce.
0:28.5	This woman liked to break things.
0:31.2	She'd always liked breaking things ever since she was a child.
0:34.4	Breaking, unmaking, unfolding, undoing, prising off, detaching, violently
0:40.0	abstracting, dropping, smashing, crushing, agitating, neglecting, disconnecting, whatever it
0:46.9	took.
0:48.6	She liked to break things with precision.
0:51.4	She liked the moment of breakage.
0:54.1	The moment when the broken thing came into existence
0:57.0	and the thing it was before ceased to exist. She said, only when something breaks can you
1:04.0	finally understand its true function and character. It's a process of physical deduction,
1:09.0	its graphic. She explained how she would pull the transistors out of physical deduction, it's graphic.
1:11.1	She explained how she would pull the transistors out of radios, cut off her doll's hands
1:15.5	with scissors, slice worms in half with a penknife.
1:19.4	But it's unpredictable, like splitting the atom.
1:22.5	Such a tiny thing.
1:24.1	What a big surprise inside.
1:26.4	She would say this sort of thing in classes and her students would
1:29.2	take notice. They hung off her words. She would see them in the bargain shop on Saturday afternoons
1:34.5	buying cheap crockery for smashing. Break plates, she told them. Break everything in the house.
1:41.9	Plates were one thing. But what this woman, let's call her Anna,
	...

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