Monstrum

(Hardback)

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By turns chilling and tender, darkly atmospheric and beautifully crafted, the stories that make up Lottie Mills' debut collection are a meditation on otherness. A mother rejects her daughter in favour of a meticulously created porcelain doll. A father and daughter build a life for themselves on an isolated beach, only to collide painfully with the outside world when their secret home is discovered. A young bride struggles to control her terror before her new husband, until she glimpses the fear that he has worked so hard to conceal. In vibrant, musical prose, Lottie Mills captures the experience of characters excluded by a society that cannot accept their difference.This eerie collection of modern fairy tales announces the arrival of an outstanding young voice.

Reviews

I was struck by the sheer verve and imagination of it all... Abook that is often beautiful, appalling and fantastical, but always utterly truthful.DeborahKay Davies, author ofReasons She Goes to the Woods

'A magical and haunting collection of captivating stories. Lottie Mills' writing manages to tread the fine line between the grotesque and the exquisite with seemingly effortless ease.'Jan Carson, author ofQuickly, While They Still Have Horses

'We were blown away by 'The Changeling', it's simply beautiful. I love the way it uses fairy mythology to tell a story about difference, disability, acceptance and coming of age.'Katie Thistleton, BBC Radio 1 presenter and Chair of Judges for BBC YWA 2020

'It's wonderful to encounter the 'spirit animals' roaming through Lottie Mills' stories. There's something essential about their presence, not just to the authenticity and depth of her telling, but to the healing of our broken world.'Em Strang, author ofQuinn

'I can't remember the last time I sat down to read a book and became so captivated that I forgot everything else until I came to the end... Lottie's stories reminded me of what matters.' Claire Oshetsky, author of Chouette

'These gleefully modern fairy tales are absolutely alive with the joyful energy of difference, the prose haunting, luridly beautiful, and at times shockingly, deliciously gruesome.' Jenn Ashworth, author of Ghosted: A Love Story

Author Bio

Originally from Stevenage, Lottie Mills studied English Literature at Newnham College, Cambridge. She was named BBC Young Writer of the Year in 2020 for her short story, 'The Changeling', included in this collection. Monstrum is her debut short-story collection.