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- 25 October, 2020: Reviewed
The Beauty
by Aliya Whiteley
'This novella should win stuff. Seriously, just read it. Original work is being done. Here’s proof.'
– Nina Allan, author of The Race'What a refreshing gust of tiny spores this novella explodes into, and I inhaled them all with glee'
– Adam Nevill, author of Some Will Not Sleep'The Beauty looks innocent. Then it knocks you over the head with some of the boldest, most transgressive ideas in modern storytelling. A post-apocalyptic fable of magic mushroom women and gender deconstruction, The Beauty is an unsettling examination of what we mean by love and family — and the lengths to which we’ll go to preserve them. Wonderfully weird fiction.'
– Stephanie Saulter, author of the ®Evolution trilogy
In a post-apocalyptic world where all the women have died a group of men and boys survive. The story shall be told to preserve the past. History has gone back to its aural roots and the power of words is strong.
Meet Nate, the storyteller, and the new secrets he brings back from the woods. William rules the group with youth and strength, but how long can that last? What about Uncle Ted, who spends so much time out in the woods? And what of mushrooms like heads, on the graves of women?
Discover the Beauty.
This story is a dark slice of the New Weird, encompassing dystopian post-apocalyptic fiction, dark fairy tale and horror. Whiteley’s prose is poetic and elegiac, weaving the beautiful and macabre, etching razor- sharp observations on love, loss and what women, mothers, sisters, lovers, mean.