Publishing 10th September 2020 by Influx Press.
Read July 2020.
From the cover of the book:
Famished explores the perils of selfish sensuality and trifle while child rearing, phantom sweetshop owners, the revolting use of sherbet in occult rituals, homicide by seaside rock, and the perversion of Thai Tapas.
Once, that is, you've been bled dry from fluted cups by pretty incorporeals and learned about consuming pride in the hungriest of stately homes.
Famished: eighteen stories to whet your appetite and ruin your dinner.
*****************************************************
This is certainly a book you can get your teeth into - or does it get its teeth into you? Intrigued? You should be!
I first came across the work of Anna Vaught in her recent book Saving Lucia (Bluemoose 2020), which I can highly recommend (See my review here), so I was really looking forward to savouring the delights of her new short story collection, Famished.
Famished is a collection of glorious fables by Anna Vaught, ostensibly on the theme of food, but delving into these surreal and often sensuous stories will take you on a voyage into some pretty terrifying depths of the ilk of the darkest of adult fairy tales.
Be prepared to meet spectral beings, ghosts and ghouls; feasts of huge proportions in which dishes both delicious and distinctly unpalatable are served, with macabre consequences; gluttonous gourmands and austere abstainers; controllers, conjurers and confectioners galore....
I guarantee you will be unable to think the same way about all manner of food stuffs after reading this book - tripe, sherbet, seaside rock, and baked goods all spring to mind - and nightmares about dreadful dolls and loathsome lampreys will surely ensue.
These tales are all completely wonderful - immersive, dreamy, nightmarish, and eerily enchanting in turn - exploring many facets of the meaning of appetite, and our author uses her choice of words to perfection throughout.
I adored the entire collection, but my absolute favourite is Shame with its compelling celebration of "chef's perks", dark theme of coercive control, and the acknowledgement that true bliss comes from the simplest of pleasures, such as being able to slob on the sofa with the one you truly love, a pack of twiglets and a jar of Hellman's.
Do yourself a favour and indulge your literary appetite by ordering a copy of this fabulous collection right now - ideally direct from Inlux Press HERE.
Thank you to Jordan Taylor-Jones for sending me a copy of this gem, in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Anna Vaught is a novelist, poet, essayist, reviewer, and editor. With a BA and MA in English, she is also a secondary English teacher, tutor and mentor to young people, mental health campaigner and advocate, volunteer and mum to a large brood.
She is the author of numerous books, including the novel Saving Lucia ( from Bluemoose). Her work has appeared in Best British Horror, Litro, The Shadow Booth, Review 31 and many more.
You can find her on Twitter and at www.annavaughtwrites.com
I first came across the work of Anna Vaught in her recent book Saving Lucia (Bluemoose 2020), which I can highly recommend (See my review here), so I was really looking forward to savouring the delights of her new short story collection, Famished.
Famished is a collection of glorious fables by Anna Vaught, ostensibly on the theme of food, but delving into these surreal and often sensuous stories will take you on a voyage into some pretty terrifying depths of the ilk of the darkest of adult fairy tales.
Be prepared to meet spectral beings, ghosts and ghouls; feasts of huge proportions in which dishes both delicious and distinctly unpalatable are served, with macabre consequences; gluttonous gourmands and austere abstainers; controllers, conjurers and confectioners galore....
I guarantee you will be unable to think the same way about all manner of food stuffs after reading this book - tripe, sherbet, seaside rock, and baked goods all spring to mind - and nightmares about dreadful dolls and loathsome lampreys will surely ensue.
These tales are all completely wonderful - immersive, dreamy, nightmarish, and eerily enchanting in turn - exploring many facets of the meaning of appetite, and our author uses her choice of words to perfection throughout.
I adored the entire collection, but my absolute favourite is Shame with its compelling celebration of "chef's perks", dark theme of coercive control, and the acknowledgement that true bliss comes from the simplest of pleasures, such as being able to slob on the sofa with the one you truly love, a pack of twiglets and a jar of Hellman's.
Do yourself a favour and indulge your literary appetite by ordering a copy of this fabulous collection right now - ideally direct from Inlux Press HERE.
Thank you to Jordan Taylor-Jones for sending me a copy of this gem, in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Anna Vaught is a novelist, poet, essayist, reviewer, and editor. With a BA and MA in English, she is also a secondary English teacher, tutor and mentor to young people, mental health campaigner and advocate, volunteer and mum to a large brood.
She is the author of numerous books, including the novel Saving Lucia ( from Bluemoose). Her work has appeared in Best British Horror, Litro, The Shadow Booth, Review 31 and many more.
You can find her on Twitter and at www.annavaughtwrites.com
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