Guernica Editions

Sophie Stocking is a writer with a keen eye fixed to her world which she expertly bridges to ours. Her stories are told with language that evokes the intensity of being a small daughter, a junior high student, a young mother— all fighting expectations that those roles and relationships bring. Stocking illuminates these identities and struggles through landscape. The flora of each story’s terrain pairs with a character to scent identity, adding layers of colour to germinate legacies. The characters in each of the stories in Walking Leonard have survived decades of Calgary’s seasons thus giving readers something to learn from or identify with. Ultimately, her stories dare us to close our books and walk outside, to find the stories, the colours, and the scents of the plants that grow around us. This collection challenges us to pay attention to our own stories.

Stocking weaves a story of heartache and grace. Her stories draw us in and we identify with each character; Shakti, who finds nature offering what her parents do not, Clarice, who discovers another world much warmer than the cold and arrogant one of her parents, and finally Mollie who knows that taking responsibility is the order of the day. There are many things to ponder with each story, and as readers we can discover something new with each reading.

The slow-burn of Sophie Stocking’s debut short story collection is lovely in language, superb in detail, gorgeous in naming all that lies around and within us. Stocking writes the small in order to capture the sometimes-soundless revelations that largely impact the course of her narrators’ lives. Quiet hearts coupled with pondering minds; this story collection is an exquisite read.