“The Smallest Skip in a Record”: Allison Renner’s Review of A New Day by Sue Mell

A New Day
Sue Mell
She Writes Press (2024)
200 pp.

In A New Day, Sue Mell delivers a collection of short stories that feel honest and familiar. The book follows three women—Rachel, Emma, and Nina—through the highs and lows of relationships, creative pursuits, and life’s everyday disarray.

What stands out most about these stories is how real they feel. Mell doesn’t sugarcoat or neatly resolve everything. Instead, she gives us glimpses of decisions that ripple through later stories, sometimes offering closure but more often reflecting how life works—messy, unpredictable, and full of loose ends. It’s like catching up with old friends through mutual acquaintances, where you slowly piece together what’s been happening in their lives.

The characters we follow from 1982 to 2005 are relatable and flawed. Rachel is an artist navigating friendships and her insecurities, Emma is a struggling actress questioning her choices, and Nina is a stylist trying to make her way while getting caught up in complicated relationships. Each woman feels distinct, yet their experiences share common threads—finding love, chasing dreams, and dealing with setbacks.

Mell’s style feels reminiscent of Lily King’s Writers and Lovers and Melissa Bank’s The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, blending intimacy and realism with a sharp eye for detail. Her writing captures small but powerful moments. One of the many lines that stuck with me reads: “Sometimes when you meet someone in a passing moment—a moment that’ll never repeat—they’ll share something with you that they didn’t even know they wanted or needed to say.” That feels like an apt description of the book, honestly. These insights pop up throughout the collection, making you pause and appreciate the beauty of the concept.

The interconnected nature of the stories works well here. A decision or event in one story might come up again later, giving a sense of continuity that’s really satisfying. But it’s not overly polished or forced—it feels natural, like life.

Mell also nails the feeling of time passing. Whether it’s a quick mention of a long-lost friend or a recurring theme of drifting relationships, you get a strong sense of how people grow, change, and sometimes come back into each other’s lives.

A New Day is about the small but meaningful moments that shape us. It’s an easy book to sink into and will leave you thinking about your relationships and choices long after you’ve put it down.

Allison Renner’s fiction and photography have appeared in South Florida Poetry Journal, Ellipsis Zine, Six Sentences, Rejection Letters, Atlas and Alice, Misery Tourism, Versification, FERAL, and vulnerary magazine. Her chapbook Won’t Be By Your Side is out from Alien Buddha Press. She can be found online at allisonrennerwrites.com and on Twitter @AllisonRWrites.