Backstories - Simon Van der Velde - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Simon Van der Velde

GENRE: Biographical Anthology.

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: An anthology based on an interesting premise. You need a fairly high GK quotient to appreciate this better. I enjoyed taxing my brains through this short “fiction” collection, though I did need Google more than I thought I would.

The tagline of this anthology gives you a great idea of what you can expect: “Intimate stories about people you think you know.” The fourteen tales in this collection are, as the title indicates, backstories for famous (or infamous) people. We get a glimpse of their pre-fame years, which provide an insight into how/why they ended up as they did.

Here’s the challenging part. The author doesn’t reveal the identity of the people whose backstories he has provided. There are clues, of course. You might have a first name or nickname popping in a dialogue, or a family member referenced in a scene, but that’s all. So you know you are reading a backstory, but you don’t know whose it is until the very end, and sometimes, not even by the end. Once the bulb about the identity lights up above your head, you will realise how intricately the backstory has been linked to facts.

The writing is quite intelligent. All the stories are written in first person. Each tale narrates such a factual/semi-fictionalised event from the personality’s life as might have proven a gamechanger in their actual life. The writing style tries to match how the actual person might have spoken in real life, though this doesn’t apply to all the stories. It was fun and enlightening as well, because all of the backstories were unknown to me.

What I loved even beyond the above points is that the entire package is planned to a T. All the external elements—title, cover, tagline, and blurb—are synchronised with each other and represent the content perfectly.

Honest confession: While I did recognise many of the personalities, I hadn't even heard of the remaining few, mostly the infamous ones. Google was my valuable companion along this ride. This might not be a problem for Western readers. Most of the personality sketches are from 60s and 70s UK and USA (thus both the region and the time period were beyond me), though a couple are more historical and one is contemporary. I read a few of the stories twice, once the regular way and once after I figured out or Googled the identity.

Of course, you might be wondering if you could read this just as a regular anthology without taxing your brain so much. You can – each story is complete in itself and functions as a proper short story. However, if you don’t match the content to the person, you won’t get the point of the backstory and will miss out on the thrill of the exercise.

All in all, this is a marvellous collection that offers value on multiple levels. Definitely recommended to short fiction lovers and biography readers. Will work better if you spread out the read rather than gulp this 120-page book in one go.

The book is dedicated to the victims of violent crime, the struggle against discrimination and to giving children a better future. Hence 30% of all profits will be shared across three charities that work for each of these causes in the UK. That’s one more reason for you to purchase it. Readers in India can access the book through their KU subscription as well.

NOTE: The content isn’t child-friendly, despite what the concept suggests.

My thanks to author Simon Van der Velde for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Backstories”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.