Women I Know is the most extraordinary short story collection. Gibson has created 17 different stories with 17 very different scenarios. There are no weak stories. That in itself is a marvel. As indicated by the title (also the ninth story), the narratives revolve around female characters. No two are the same; all are telling their own story.

The lead story, ‘Glitches in The Algorithm’, is a timely choice. It tells of a woman with blurred lines between her real life and her social media presence. Gibson renders the ascent of the simulacrum/avatar/alter ego believably and with humour. The rise and fall of a love affair in a vegan house is both quirky, funny and sad. The story of a woman having to walk home alone at night seethes with palpable anger. There is a creepiness to the factory worker tasked with inserting a copy of her own eyes into a doll.

Gibson plays with form: ‘When the River Floods Our House’ could easily be shape poetry, meandering before spilling to its finale, and like poetry, the narrative is merely a metaphor for a deeper meaning. The titular story reads like a two-hander play, with a grandmother talking to her granddaughter. The dialogue refers to the grandmother’s son, who’s involved in an undisclosed scandal. The grandmother and granddaughter are separated by age and the preparedness to accept poor behaviour.

Most striking (to me) was ‘Intermission I’. Supposed snippets of story ideas are stories in themselves, overlapping and splintering in different directions. I immediately sought out ‘Intermission II’, which was different again but no less enjoyable.

This superb collection is like a chocolate assortment – so many different flavours, all of them delicious.

Reviewed by Bob Moore