Truth or Dare is a journey taking in illegal raves, toga parties, teen alienation, fear, activism and escape, and features prophetic nightmares, pancakes, razorblade amnesties, freight trains, misadventures with punk drummers and losing your virginity to your best friend.
By turns tender, intimate and furious, Jane Claire Bradley's debut chapbook explores the teenage experience through its authentic, multi-faceted characters and its distinctive use of voice, language, imagery and atmosphere.
From playing spin the bottle and starting fires to surviving the end of the world, Truth or Dare is the first ever dedicated collection of Jane’s writing, featuring eight short stories and performance pieces exclusively collected together for the first time.
Compiling previously published and never-before-seen work, Truth or Dare explores themes of identity, queerness, class and coming of age via its teenage protagonists, and includes several original pieces never shared anywhere else until now. First published in a limited edition print run in 2021, this is the first time the chapbook is being made available in a digital format.
"Virtually all the pieces explore that period of young adulthood in mid-late teens into early twenties and perfectly capture that vibe of exploring ones identity and sexuality, those early experiences that matter so much (whether positive or otherwise), the joyous abandon of drug and booze hedonism with people who 'right now' mean everything, those first kisses, those caresses and moments of tenderness but also the trauma, tragedy and fear that young people face. These are stories of hope, of revenge and justice, of running away or just starting again, they are stories of capturing those moments when someone just holds you tight and holds your hand and it may not be okay, but it's okay 'right now'...her stories are relatable to anyone who remembers youth and navigating that journey into adulthood." (Goodreads review)
Genre: Literary Fiction
By turns tender, intimate and furious, Jane Claire Bradley's debut chapbook explores the teenage experience through its authentic, multi-faceted characters and its distinctive use of voice, language, imagery and atmosphere.
From playing spin the bottle and starting fires to surviving the end of the world, Truth or Dare is the first ever dedicated collection of Jane’s writing, featuring eight short stories and performance pieces exclusively collected together for the first time.
Compiling previously published and never-before-seen work, Truth or Dare explores themes of identity, queerness, class and coming of age via its teenage protagonists, and includes several original pieces never shared anywhere else until now. First published in a limited edition print run in 2021, this is the first time the chapbook is being made available in a digital format.
"Virtually all the pieces explore that period of young adulthood in mid-late teens into early twenties and perfectly capture that vibe of exploring ones identity and sexuality, those early experiences that matter so much (whether positive or otherwise), the joyous abandon of drug and booze hedonism with people who 'right now' mean everything, those first kisses, those caresses and moments of tenderness but also the trauma, tragedy and fear that young people face. These are stories of hope, of revenge and justice, of running away or just starting again, they are stories of capturing those moments when someone just holds you tight and holds your hand and it may not be okay, but it's okay 'right now'...her stories are relatable to anyone who remembers youth and navigating that journey into adulthood." (Goodreads review)
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for Jane Claire Bradley's Truth or Dare