Dolls, sewing machines, tinned foods, mirrors, and malfunctioning bodies parade through these short stories that are in turn childish and naive, grotesque and dark. We encounter a feminist revolution; a worker who does everything in her power not to lose her Man in a society where being without a Man is frowned upon; a creature—half-human, half-spider—that finds love at long last in a great European city. As she examines her obsessions from multiple angles, Camilla Grudova disturbs and discomfits with her vivid stories.

Canadian, American, and British critics have compared this young writer, already a master of her art, to Angela Carter, Sheila Heti, H. P. Lovecraft, Franz Kafka, Margaret Atwood, David Cronenberg, and David Lynch.

This is undoubtedly the most original work by a Canadian writer published in 2017, a debut that clearly signals the emergence of a major new literary talent.

Published in French.

Translated by: Véronique Lessard, Marc Charron