'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.

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

About the Author
Angela Carter (1940-1992) is one of Britain's most original and disturbing writers. THE MAGIC TOYSHOP won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1969 and SEVERAL PERCEPTIONS won the Somerset Maugham Prize in 1968.

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 *
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 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781844085231
Author Angela Carter
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 358g
Dimensions(mm) 205mm * 178mm * 22mm