Synopses & Reviews
Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award
From White Review Short Story Prize winner Julia Armfield, a brilliant, provocative debut story collection for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link.
In her electrifying debut, Julia Armfield explores women's experiences in contemporary society, mapped through their bodies. As urban dwellers' sleeps become disassociated from them, like Peter Pan's shadow, a city turns insomniac. A teenager entering puberty finds her body transforming in ways very different than her classmates'. As a popular band gathers momentum, the fangirls following their tour turn into something monstrous. After their parents remarry, two step-sisters, one a girl and one a wolf, develop a dangerously close bond. And in an apocalyptic landscape, a pregnant woman begins to realize that the creature in her belly is not what she expected.
Blending elements of horror, science fiction, mythology, and feminism, salt slow is an utterly original collection of short stories that are sure to dazzle and shock, heralding the arrival of a daring new voice.
Review
"Reading this collection is the only thing you need to do right now. Armfield is an enormous, gut-wrenching talent." — Daisy Johnson, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Everything Under
Review
"Dazzling...Each piece is filled with magic, insight, and a rare level of creativity that mark Armfield as a fresh new voice of magical realism." — Kirkus
Review
"Unsettling, uncanny, and utterly delightful... Armfield occasionally deploys startling, stunning turns of phrase...Razor-sharp, stylish, and imaginative, Armfield's collection is a dazzling introduction to a talented writer." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
About the Author
Julia Armfield is a fiction writer and occasional playwright with a Masters in Victorian Art and Literature from Royal Holloway University. Her work has been published in The White Review, Lighthouse, Analog Magazine, Neon Magazine and The Stockholm Review. She was commended in the Moth Short Story Prize 2017 and won the White Review Short Story Prize with two of the stories in this collection. She lives in London, where she is at work on her debut novel.