Description

‘A marvel of a collection’ Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time

‘There is nothing more terrifying than the monster that squats behind the door you dare not open…’

From the bestselling author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time come eight mesmerising stories exploring care, genetics, how we treat animals – and how we treat other people.

Mark Haddon weaves ancient fables into fresh and unexpected forms, and forges new legends to sit alongside them. The myth of the Minotaur in his labyrinth is turned into a wrenching parable of maternal love – and of the monstrosities of patriarchy. The lover of a goddess, Tithonus, is gifted eternal life but without eternal youth. Actaeon, changed into a stag after glimpsing the naked Diana and torn to pieces by his hunting dogs, becomes a visceral metaphor about how humans use and misuse animals.

From genetic engineering to the eternal complications of family, Haddon showcases how we are subject to the same elemental forces that obsessed the Greeks. Whether describing Laika the Soviet space dog on her fateful orbit, or St Anthony wrestling with loneliness in the desert, his astonishing powers of observation are at their height when illuminating the thin line between human and animal.

‘In sentences as precisely cut as paper sculptures, Mark Haddon fits ancient myth to the cruelties and wonders of the present’ Francis Spufford, author of Cahokia Jazz

Publisher Review

‘A marvel of a collection – suffused with curiosity, humanity and mystery, bold in its scope and virtuoso in its telling. Mark Haddon makes stories matter’ * Kaliane Bradley * ‘In sentences as precisely cut as paper sculptures, Mark Haddon fits ancient myth to the cruelties and wonders of the present’ * Francis Spufford * Praise for Mark Haddon’s short stories:
‘The real redemption in these superbly gripping stories comes from their canny human detail, and the vivid, unsettling clarity they bring to our brief lives’ Sunday Times * Sunday Times * ‘He is a master of the short form’ * i paper * ‘Exquisite . . . The reader might assume that Haddon . . . can describe anything. Such a reader would not be disappointed’ * The Times *