"All in Together Girls" book review by Tracy Au

Kate Sutherland, All In Together Girls, Thistledown Press, $11.66 (Amazon.ca), 147 pages.


Kate Sutherland’s short stories have previously appeared before in magazines and literary journals such as Grain and Prairie Fire. She has her first book of short stories out already called Summer Reading. Now she followed it up by releasing a new book that is an anthology of fourteen stories titled All In Together Girls, circling around issues that concerns girls and women today.

The book is filled with insightful short stories about women, young and old who experience growing up and self discovery. Stories that stand out are “Aerial View of a Dinner Party” because it provides an intriguing point of view to how all the guests at the party behave around each other. The stories are personal and have a realistic touch to them. In “The Story of Her Life”, the relationship of a mother and daughter who are going through obstacles is depicted. Humour is often thrown in the stories such as “Tales from Peebles Hydro” where a mother tells her daughter about her experiences working as a waitress in an upper-class restaurant. She encounters all sorts of people there and she teaches her daughter a lesson about how she deals with each bad diner. “After Grad” is a funny story with a plot twist ending.

The stories are fun and entertaining to read because there are themes about developing confidence and picking yourself up after you fall. They are creative, and readers can easily relate to these personal experiences and learning and growing from them. Even though you may not have personally gone through what the characters go through, you can empathize. A couple of the stories consist of bad romantic relationships like “Making Love while the Kettle Boils” and “Checking Out”. These two stories are through a first person narrative telling of how the women know the relationships that they are in are unhealthy for them, but their hearts can’t let the men go.

I enjoyed reading the book, particularly the stories like “Aerial View of a Dinner Party” and “Measuring Up” because it contains themes of not letting people and your insecurities control your life. “Outside the Frame” is another well written story about picking herself up after a divorce. I like stories where women overcome adversity and gain confidence from it. If you read the whole book closely, you can catch the appearance of the characters Devin and Darcy who are in two stories called “Cool” and “She’s a Rocker.” They are two bad boys who befriend teenage girls and have wild fun. The stories are about teenage girls who experience growing up and the challenges of being adolescents. “Open All Night” is another story about girls dealing with acceptance and popularity.

Not every story has a happy ending or a lesson in it. All of the stories are consistently good. I highly recommend that all girls and women read this book because it is well written and compelling.