Monstrum by Lottie Mills

 

Monstrum by Lottie Mills.

Published 16th May 2024 by One World.

From the cover of the book:

From Lottie Mills, the winner of the BBC Young Writers' Award in 2020, comes this beautifully crafted collection of stories.

A father and daughter build a life for themselves on an isolated beach. But the outside world is pressing in. It's only a matter of time before their secret refuge is discovered.

A young disabled woman opts to receive a perfect, pain-free body. Soon, however, she finds herself haunted by the one she cast off.

A travelling circus master discovers the ideal addition to his cabinet of curiosities: 'damaged', 'grotesque', gifted. He plans to make her the star of his show; she plans to take her revenge.

Monstrum captures the experience of characters excluded by a society that cannot accept their difference. Eerie, fantastical and hugely ambitious, this collection announces the arrival of an outstanding new literary voice.

***********

Monstrum is a beautifully gothic collection of short stories by Lottie Mills, winner of the BBC Young Writers' Award for 'The Changeling' (which is included in this book), and it is incredibly difficult to sum up the powerful emotions they evoked within me in a short review.

Mills weaves spellbinding themes throughout this collection, playing on the fascination with and fear of 'difference', and exploring aspects of the lives of those who are often excluded from society because of their 'otherness'. Cleverly using the format of traditional fairy tales, speculative horror fiction, atmospheric folklore yarns, and mythological retellings, she challenges you to alter your thinking about what society considers 'normal'. Disabilities become wondrous conditions that tell of hidden magical abilities; the pursuit of perfection leads to macabre consequences; characters are subjected to misguided, or malevolent, attention; and yearnings for freedom, or kinship, create intricately involved storylines that pull you in and compel you not to look away.

These are the kinds of stories that are made up of layer upon elaborate layer, so that each time you read them you find different shades of meaning in her words, and curiously relatable echoes. Some are so eerie that they will inevitably become part of your darkest nightmares ('The Body', for me), and some will have you punching the air as well deserved revenge is served cold, but among them there are also golden threads that hold you in the moment, celebrating connection, warmth, acceptance, and love.

This is impressive writing for a debut author, and this haunting little collection of stories will really stay with me. If I had to pick I favourite, I think it might be 'The Selkie', with its feminist themes, but they are all glorious in their own way. I am so looking forward to following Lottie Mills' career as a writer, because this is a brilliant beginning. 

Monstrum is available to buy now in hardcover and ebook formas.

Thank you to Oneworld for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Lottie Mills was born in Hampshire and grew up in West Sussex, Hertfordshire, and Essex. She studied English at Newnham College, Cambridge, and contributed to Varsity and The Mays during her time there. In 2020, she won the BBC Young Writers’ Award for her short story ‘The Changeling’, having been previously shortlisted in 2018. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4, and she has appeared on programmes including Look East, Life Hacks, and Woman’s Hour to discuss her writing. Monstrum is her debut book.