Animal Wife

(Paperback)

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A short story collection about women's transformations from girls into wives, mothers, and monsters

'In villages where women bore most of the weight of a constricted life, witches flew by night on broomsticks,' said Italo Calvino of the way imagination bridges the gap between everyday existence and an idealised alternative.

The fifteen stories ofAnimal Wifeare unified by girls and women who cross this threshold seeking liberation from family responsibilities, from societal expectations, from their own minds. A girl born with feathers undertakes a quest for the mother who abandoned her. An indecisive woman drinks Foresight, only to become stymied by the futures branching before her. A proofreader cultivates a cage-fighting alter ego. A woman becomes psychologically trapped in her car. A girl acts on her desire for a childhood friend as a monster draws closer to the shore. A widow invites a bear to hibernate in her den.

Animal Wifewas selected as the winner of the Red Hen Fiction Award byNew York Timesbestselling author Ann Hood, who says of the collection, 'From the first sentenceAnimal Wifegrabbed me and never let go. Sensual and intelligent, with gorgeous prose, it made me dizzy with its exploration and illumination of the inner and outer lives of girls and women.'

Reviews

"From the first sentenceAnimal Wifegrabbed me and never let go. Sensual andintelligent, with gorgeous prose, it made me dizzy with its exploration and illumination of the inner and outer lives of girls and women."Ann Hood,New York Timesbestselling author

"Lara Ehrlich is a master stylist of the surreal, the fabulist, and the fantastic. I loved each of these whimsical, magical stories that centered around girls and women and their transformations (whether that be into women, mothers, or animals). I was particularly intrigued by the way Lara beautifully portrays the inner struggle between wildness and domesticity, the surreal elements of each story lending a mythical complexity to these conflicts. Really lovely and thought-provoking. Perfect for fans of Aimee Bender, Karen Russell, and Angela Carter. Also, if you're a language-lover and (like me) find yourself highlighting gorgeous prose, this collection is full of lines like this: "In none of her lives will she be be brilliant or famous or content. Her mediocrity will hound her through a kaleidoscope of futures." I deeply enjoyed every story (and sentence) and find myself still thinking about them and the ideas they raise days after."Joy Baglio, founder of Pioneer Valley Writer's Workshop

"Life is, for myriad reasons, untenable for the women (and girls) who inhabit Ehrlich's stories. Whether this is because they want what the modern world cannot possibly afford them or because the world is actively disinterested in their success and happiness is a question Ehrlich explores throughout this collection...The heroines of these stories must all deal with moments of rupture, occasionally violent and spectacular, and ultimately there's no going back."Douglas Riggsof Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT

"These stories, and Ehrlich, are remarkable, and the collection is a standout in a season full of amazing new releases."Corinne Segal,Literary Hub

"Whimsy and fantasy meet the way things really turn out in stories from a strong new voice."Kirkus Reviews

"A collection of fairy tales that turn up the volume on the quiet desperation in the lives of women and girls until the characters scream, rage, screw, and otherwise manifest their discontents, and that crackle and pop with such imagination and innovation that I was left roiling with jealousy and love."Keija Parssinen, Consulting Editor,The Kenyon Review

"Strange, funny, fearsome,Animal Wifeis a gorgeous book, weird in its very bones."Elizabeth McCracken, author ofBowlaway: A Novel

"Lara Ehrlich has written a collection of stories that allow for escapism."F(r)iction

"It is engaging at every turn of the page for its innovative approach. Ehrlich weaves compelling characters and situations, gripping images and language in her deft storytelling."Sandra Williams,Metapsychology

"The author has a way of bringing a calming magic to her words that makes them gentle and soothing regardless of the topic."Lisa Albright,The Girly Book Club

"These stories, and Ehrlich, are remarkable, and the collection is a standout in a season full of amazing new releases."Corinne Segal, Lit Hub senior editor,Lit Hub

"Selected as the winner of the Red Hen Fiction Award, the gorgeous prose is mesmerizing and captivating."Parade

"It is no surprise that Animal Wife is the winner of the Red Hen Fiction Award. Through gorgeous, searing prose, Ehrlich has created a cast of unforgettable heroines who rail against the unfair societal expectations that confine them. By telling their stories with beauty, nuance, truth, and magic, she has finally set them free."Shannon Perri,[PANK]

"Ehrlichs fiction swirls with magic, mourning, and grace, and provides readers with hope that even in uncertainty, there is wonder."Cameron Finch,Craft Literary

Author Bio

Lara Ehrlich is the author of the short story collection Animal Wife, which was selected as the winner of the Red Hen Fiction Award by New York Times bestselling author Ann Hood, who says the book made [her] dizzy with its exploration and illumination of the inner and outer lives of girls and women. Laras writing appears in StoryQuarterly, Hunger Mountain, the Massachusetts Review, and the Columbia Review, among others, and has been nominated for a 2020 Pushcart Prize. Lara has attended the Bread Loaf and Tin House writers conferences, and she received a 2019 Parent-Writer Fellowship from the Marthas Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Boston University, and she lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter. Visit her website at laraehrlich.com.