'The boldest of English women writers' LORNA SAGE

'Her writing is pyrotechnic - fuelled with ideas, packed with images and spangling the night with her starry language' OBSERVER

'She can glide from ancient to modern, from darkness to luminosity, from depravity to comedy without any hint of strain and without losing the elusive power of the original tales' THE TIMES

'This crazy world whirled around her, men and women dwarfed by toys and puppets, where even the birds are mechanical and the few human figures went masked . . . She was in the night once again, and the doll was herself.'

One night Melanie walks through the garden in her mother's wedding dress. The next morning her world is shattered. Forced to leave her rural home, she is sent to London to live with relatives she has never met: gentle Aunt Margaret, mute since her wedding day; and her brothers, Francie, whose graceful music belies his clumsy nature, and the volatile Finn. Brooding over all is Uncle Philip, who loves only the puppets he creates in his workshop, which are life-sized - and uncannily lifelike.

About the Author
Angela Carter was born in 1940. One of Britain's most original and disturbing writers, she died in 1992.

Reviews
The boldest of English women writers
Her writing is pyrotechnic - fuelled with ideas, packed with images and spangling the night sky with her starry language * Observer *
She can glide from ancient to modern, from darkness to luminosity, from depravity to comedy without any hint of strain and without losing the elusive power of the original tales * The Times *
Beneath its contemporary surface, this novel shimmers with blurred echoes-from Lewis Carroll, from 'Giselle' and 'Coppelia,' Harlequin and Punch . . . It leaves behind it a flavor, pungent and unsettling * New York Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780349010311
Author Angela Carter
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 205g
Dimensions(mm) 200mm * 133mm * 16mm