The Silver Moon and the Evening Tide

By C.J. Booth

Reviewed By Lit Amri for Readers’ Favorite
The Silver Moon and the Evening Tide (A Collection of Short Stories) by C.J. Booth with Elizabeth Booth is a mixture of eclectic themes; revenge, betrayal, familial bonds, crime, death, domestic abuse and much more. Featuring 25 stories－including the short ones that Booth deemed as “almost tone poems”－“You Never Call, You Never Write” starts the collection. It’s about a famous Hollywood actress who’s confronted by someone from her past. It’s nonsensical but entertaining. After all, it’s Hollywood. “A House On Fire” is a story of a wife who found out that her house has a dark secret. It’s a chilling tale that I would love to see come alive visually. “Number 5” is my favorite; a surprisingly funny macabre story about a flower seller.

Elizabeth Booth’s writing makes its first appearance in the collection with “How Much Is A Penny Worth?”, a poignant piece about the bond between a father and a daughter. Her second piece, “Theatre Masks”, also focuses on family relationships and life itself. The last story, “The Silver Moon and the Evening Tide”, which also is the title of the collection, is a romantic piece about two lovers’ first touch. The strength of C.J. and Elizabeth Booth's writing is the ability to narrate while providing just enough context so that the reader can interpret the meaning of the stories through their own perspective. Some can be metaphorical and literal at the same time, which makes the stories never seem too short to achieve their intended message. Simply put, this is a wonderfully diverse, thought-provoking collection that one can read again and again.