Description

Discover the dazzling new queer literary horror novel about chosen family and the risks it takes to become the person you want to be.

‘The glittery punk offspring of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love and Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus.’ Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger

A travelling funfair of seductive troublemakers arrive in a repressed Scottish town. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s the summer of ’97 and the Scottish town of Pitlaw is itching for change.

Enter the Freakslaw – a travelling funfair populated by deviant queers, a contortionist witch, the most powerful fortune teller, and other architects of mayhem. It doesn’t take long for the Freakslaw folk to infiltrate Pitlaw’s grey world, where the town’s teenagers – none more so than Ruth and Derek – are seduced by neon charms and the possibility of escape.

But beneath it all, these newcomers are harbouring a darker desire: revenge.

And as tensions reach fever pitch between the stoic locals and the dazzling intruders, a violence that’s been simmering for centuries is about to be unleashed…

Praise for Freakslaw:

‘A wild, fun house of horrors – whip smart, the sharpest writing, funny, visceral and filled with vengeance. I loved it!’ Rachelle Atalla, author of The Pharmacist

‘Delightful, delirious and transgressive… a queer punk masterpiece and we should all be so lucky to have our lives turned upside down by a visit to the Freakslaw.’ Leon Craig, author of Parallel Hells

‘Wild, raunchy, brutal – a madcap funhouse with heart.’ Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel

Publisher Review

A shimmering blade of a book. Every sentence is honed for high delight – a captivating cast of characters, dazzling language, and so funny – but there’s a smart and dangerous bite to all the campy, glittery glory. Freakslaw makes space for feminist, queer anger… and shows it a great time. We’ve never been so happy to roll up, roll up. * Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, authors of The View Was Exhausting * Delightful, delirious and transgressive, this book is the wildest of carnival rides, an open-mouthed kiss with the lingering taste of candyfloss and smoke. Jane Flett has created a queer punk masterpiece and we should all be so lucky to have our lives turned upside down by a visit to the Freakslaw. * Leon Craig, author of Parallel Hells * Freakslaw is a cornucopia of the carnivalesque, where freaks are fabulous and weird is wonderful. Flett’s sumptuously technicolour prose is as startlingly original as it is compulsively moreish. * Carole Hailey, author of The Silence Project * Part block party, part call to arms, Freakslaw is almost a new kind of genre. Wild, raunchy, brutal – a madcap funhouse with heart. * Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel * I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like Freakslaw before. A wild, fun house of horrors – whip smart, the sharpest writing, funny, visceral and filled with vengeance. I loved it! * Rachelle Atalla, author of The Pharmacist * A strong spiritual successor to Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, Freakslaw gorgeously captures the desire to get away from places that can’t contain you-and the complications of looking for escape. * Heather Parry, author of Orpheus Builds A Girl * Holy hell, I loved this book. A carnivalesque tale spun in luscious, crackling prose, Freakslaw is the glittery punk offspring of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love and Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus. You know those books you want to roll around in, rub on your skin, and clasp to your heart? Freakslaw is one, and I can’t wait to see what Jane Flett does next. * Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger * A stampede of literary brilliance, a riot of filthy delinquency, Jane Flett’s Freakslaw is – like the funfair whose story it tells – on a mission to liberate and unnerve. A well-plotted, page-turner where an unforgettable cast of characters bathe in the glow of her linguistic fireworks, Freakslaw is a one queer roller coaster you won’t want to get off. * Victoria Gosling, author of Before the Ruins *