Latest "Overtime" Offering from Blue Cubicle Press Is Absolutely Stunning
Lawrence Smoot | Published on 9/27/2024
by John Beck
I usually find great things to say about all the publications of Blue Cubicle Press, but I may have to invent new hyperbolic superlatives for the latest chapbook (Hour #68) in the Overtime series, "Lucifers" by Lauren O'Donoghue. What a triumph! These twenty-two pages of short story pack so much into the prose you will find yourself breathless by the end. This is the first of the series that has gone back in the deep past for its’ subject - I hope it might be the start of a new trend. Jo and her co-workers work in a match factory in 19th century London (hence the title since matches were nicknamed "lucifers" and there is enough evil here to deserve the double entendre). Such factories are occupational health disasters, union hotbeds and reformer targets. Jo gets caught up in all of that and more in this Dickensian tale of a family grappling with extreme poverty, broken multi-generational bodies and lives, and endless labors at home and at work. This is telling the story of labor in a compelling fictional narrative which will complement the historical tomes of Eric Hobsbawm, Sheila Rowbothan and E. P. Thompson -- Yes, it really is that good.To order "Lucifers" or any other offering from Blue Cubicle Press, go to their website.
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