L-istejjer f’din il-ġabra huma mudlama u skuri daqs il-kopertina u n-nikta tar-rakkonti trattata b’delikatezza u sensitività kbira. Kulħadd Ħalla Isem Warajh huwa ktieb ta’ mara dwar xi nisa u l-irġiel tagħhom jew l-irġiel li kienu magħhom. L-istorja tagħhom hija stramba daqshom.

You could say that emarginisation is a common theme to all of Azzopardi’s stories. None of the women are your run-of-the-mill characters. They are strong, strange, obsessive, stubborn, yes, but never ordinary. 

If we had to put Clare Azzopardi into a category, it would be ‘Superhero-writers’ ... Azzopardi has a unique talent of combining literary aesthetic with political activism. For this reason we believe her work should cross national frontiers.

Azzopardi’s ability to tell such unpredictable stories serves to further draw the reader’s attention to every word, every turn of events, and every snatch of dialogue that she elicits from the normal people, living at the turn of the 21st Century. 

The stories seem to pan out rather than start, and the function of detail, narrative devices, significance of names, location and time, becomes more and more significant, as what is left out becomes even more effective than what is actually in the words, so imaginatively skilful in their choice.