Umbilical by Teika Marija Smits

Publisher – NewCon Press

Published – Out now

Price – £13.99 paperback £4.49 Kindle eBook

Teika Marija Smits is one of the finest short story writers to emerge on the genre scene in recent years. Her writing dances between science fiction, realism, and horror, her storytelling relies on keen observation of the world and people around her interpreted through the lens of her unique imagination. Umbilical, her debut collection,features selected stories from her output so far, chosen by the author herself, alongside several new tales, published here for the first time.

The joy of a short story collection is you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get especially when it is a relatively new author to me but one whose stories that I have read have encouraged me to seek more of their work out. I was bowled over by the high quality and variety of the tales within Teika Marija Smits’ collection Umbilical which mixes the dark and the light brilliantly that we are never to sure if the end of each tale will be bitter or sweet. What you will get though is that each story is captivating and draws you into a world and set of characters who will make a big impression.

This is a collection with many strands and themes. One of which is of a more Humane Science Fiction storytelling. The starting tale is ‘Death of the Computer’ as an AI engineer is called to deal with a malfunctioning AI that no longer simply manages stock but also pays attention to staff and customers. As the engineer prepares to reset the machine he talks with the AI and we get its many impressions of humans and yet we know the end is near making the tale quite powerful. In counterpoint in ‘Machina In Deo (The Machine In God) we get a far future inorganic race exploring h history of humans, AI and religion that suggest we too will eventually end but life will always carry on I perhaps unexpected ways.

I was struck by how many tales manage to be bittersweet science fiction tales. In particular the great ‘Delphine As Daedulus’ has a woman freeing an elderly relative from a sinister hospital. We know it will end in that woman’s mysterious death as our narrator is being interrogated by the police but gradually Smits explores with us the wider world; its complex attitude to genetics and our view as too the right thing happening gets clearer. I was also struck by the power of ‘Star Making At Sellafield’ a niece and uncle have achieved fusion and yet this tale also explores the family bond, highs and lows that allowed this moment to come about and even then loss will be felt but one of the future now being secure.

Another theme is linked to parenting and motherhood. In the powerful but tragic ‘Umbilical’ a mother and daughter tell us their sides of the story as the daughter is diagnosed with a terminal illness. They both feel a powerful re-connection, and this appears to almost be a symbolic or actual new umbilical cord. Birth moves to death, but both changed by the experience. It’s a touching exploration of grief. Another tale is how driven a woman was to try to become pregnant in ‘This Little Piggy’ a woman convinces herself to stay a week in a terrible dilapidated house that may give her the experience to have a child. We’re told of a terrifying last night; it explores how far people can go for something but also that sometimes we dare not look. The end result though still despite all that horror ends up heartwarming. While ‘His Birth’ has a woman telling the story of how she felt having a baby and instead we get the secret story few know about how she was once trapped in a toxic relationship and a man was trying to control her body. Her own autonomy and drive to escape leads to the hardest of decisions but Smits makes us feel the pain, anguish and future happiness these decisions run to. More at the true horror end of the spectrum is ‘Our Lady of Flies’ a young couple of teachers are trying to get to the summer for a fresh start but a recent miscarriage is hurting both of them and there is no communication that seems to get through to one another. Smits makes us watch a terrifying car crash of bad decisions, false hopes and delusions all while the house continues to be infested with flies. A bleak tale but one of amazing horror.

Some tales are much lighter but still contain a kernel of darkness such as a Holmesian tale with a difference with ‘The Case of the High Pavement Ghosts’ a supernatural tale where Holmes is stuck and calls in his cousin Isadora Lampblock who knows how to investigate such cases. It’s a fast moving tale that keeps the spirit of a Holmes tale but has a unique and tragic supernatural cause behind it which I really enjoyed.

Retellings and re-imaginings also appear through the collection from a strange retelling of Bluebeard’s eventual punishment in the sumptuous ‘The Wife That Never Was’ which has a macabre scenes of hauntings; and a well designed punishment in store as well as an unusual backstory for the worst of husbands. I really enjoyed ‘Minotaur/Mindtour’ a far future tale of a young man weirdly named Theseus who has to try and save his conquered people. Here its fighting against your own memories which is the battle to come and even then Smits puts the young hero in a painful place to make a decision as to the long-term best outcome. A counterpunch I was not expecting and yet delivered very well. The figure of the Green man ends in two likely unconnected tales ‘How to Honour  A Beginning’ imagines a alien arriving on earth to begin a long tour of duty and features all sorts of Gods and spirits including Baba Yaga while in the far future ‘The Green Man’ a world empty of plants and insects has the poor mistreated workers having a brief moment of happiness in a 20th century style pub that has itself a strange visitor trying to work out what to do about the planet. Both tales of hope I enjoyed a lot.

Three amazing lyrical tales to finally highlight. I really loved ‘A Piece of Fabric The Size of A Pin’ a tale of art, destruction and drive and ambition with added scary ideas of a muse. But I really really loved ‘The Sun is God’ that throws in secret artist Eugenie, William Turner and explores the power of art, the secret messages it communicates, the pain and hope within any art and how it keeps us going even when life is hard. In a different way the final story in the collection is itself stunning with ‘The November Room or Leaving The Labyrinth’ Indra is trapped in a strange place that each room makes her live a moment of her life out of sequence. A powerful tale building up our view of the character, their strengths and weaknesses, their highs and lows and how these events are all connected and the ultimate binding mystery she has to get through. It is a tale of love, grief, despair and finally hope as well as how art is helping us through life.

An incredibly strong lyrical and powerful collection that I was very very impressed with and strongly recommend you seek out.