The Houseplant - Jeremy Ray

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Author: Jeremy Ray

Genre: Short Story
Rating: 5 stars.

A short but stunning read!

George is a fern who stays reluctantly with Brenda and her family. He doesn’t appreciate being the only plant in the house, he doesn’t like her over-zealous attention to him, and does his best to thwart her “evil intentions”. But with time, he realises that Brenda genuinely likes him and there’s no ulterior agenda to her attention. However, soon after he accepts his fate and looks forward to knowing Brenda better, tragedy strikes and George’s life turns upside down. Will this be the end of the road for George in Brenda’s house?

I simply loved this little story. Having such an unusual lead character is a great starting point anyway. But to take a plant and make it communicate and emote the way we never think is an astounding move on author Jeremy Ray’s part. You see George not just as a plant in one corner of the room but as a living, breathing creature with feelings.

Within just 32 pages, this short story delivers a whammy of emotions. It covers grief, insecurity, acceptance and unconditional love much better than even some full-length novels do.

The Goodreads blurb ends with the line: “You'll never look at houseplants the same way again.” I agree wholeheartedly. I do have plenty of plants in my house though I don’t have much of a green thumb (my plants grow despite and not because of my ministrations.) You bet I am going to have a nice, gratitude-filled chat with them tomorrow. 😃

The book is free for KU subscribers.

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