A Jewish woman has been having unnatural thoughts about the softness of another woman's skin. A feminist arranges to meet her online troll. A woman worries, under her duvet, whether she should sit content in a marriage that has turned comfortable...that is, until she falls in love with a tree... Short stories of midnight musings, of women itching to be heard and of delightful insanities.
“If there is a better way to spend an evening than curled up on an armchair with this beautiful book, then I don’t know about it and I don’t want to. Richards is a master storyteller and a generous god – always tempting you further into the myriad worlds she creates. These are stories which demand to be read and then read again. They are stories which stay with you long after you’ve had to put the book down and get up from the chair. They are stories about love and womanhood and faith and loss and longing; about drowning and breathing; about being alive and what we can do about it.”
- Amelia Loulli, Poet
"These eerie short stories themed around mental health, grief, and dysfunctional relationships are a strange delight to read. Victoria Richards' prose is artful, ethereal, and thrilling.”- Golnoosh Nour
About the Author
Victoria Richards is a journalist, writer and poet. She has worked for BBC News, The Times and The Independent, has appeared on Newsnight, BBC World and ITV News and she is the Voices editor at The Independent.
In 2017/18 she was shortlisted in the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize 2018, was highly commended in the Bridport Prize, came third in The London Magazine short story competition and second in the TSS flash fiction competition. She was also longlisted in the Bath Short Story Award 2017 and the National Poetry Competition.
She lives in London where she is working variously on a novel, a short story collection, poetry, flash fiction and books for children.
She is also a co-founder of The Second Source, a group of female journalists tackling sexual harassment in the media.
