Winner of the Scott Prize
Winner of the 2015 Polari First Book Prize
Winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection
The Herald: Book of the Year 2014
Shortlisted for the 2014 Green Carnation Prize
Twenty tales of lust and loss. These stories feature clockwork hearts, lascivious queens, paper men, island circuses, and a flooded world. On the island of Skye, an antlered girl and a tiger-tailed boy resolve never to be friends – but can they resist their unique connection? In an alternative 19th-century Paris, a love triangle emerges between a man, a woman, and a coin-operated boy. A teenager deals with his sister's death by escaping from their tiny Scottish island – but will she let him leave? In 1920s New Orleans, a young girl comes of age in her mother's brothel. Some of these stories are radical retellings of classic tales, some are modern-day fables, but all explore substitutions for love.
- ISBN10 1844719995
- ISBN13 9781844719990
- Publish Date 15 March 2014
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Salt Publishing
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 160
- Language English
- URL http://saltpublishing.com/products/the-rental-heart-and-other-fairytales-9781907773754