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The Beauty Aliya Whiteley

The Beauty By Aliya Whiteley

The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley


£9.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 3 left

Summary

This post-apocalyptic novella combines science fiction, dark fantasy and horror. After the women are killed by fungus, what comes next? What would be born of all that death, out there in the woods? Examining the role of stories, power, gender and more, The Beauty is 'intellectual and visceral, frightening and thoughtful'.

The Beauty Summary

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 (R)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.

The Beauty Reviews

This novella should win stuff. Seriously, just read it. Original work is being done. Here's proof. ****

-- Nina Allan

I was provoked, shocked, disgusted, touched and, ultimately, I emerged feeling wiser. A brilliant, haunting original. ****

-- Craig Lines

This is a short book with a lot to say, all of it interesting ... Most of all it's about the power of storytelling to preserve our past and shape our future, and so one can see why it would appeal to an imprint called Unsung Stories, on this evidence a name to look out for. The Beauty is intellectual and visceral, frightening and thoughtful, an adventure and a meditation. ****

-- Stephen Theaker

If I were to push one book on you from 2014, shove one book at you and say this, it would be The Beauty. ****

-- Benjamin Judge

Aliya Whiteley's elegant, dreamlike prose masterfully frames the most slippery of issues - the fluidity of gender and sexuality; history and the power of propaganda; the value of life in all its forms, and the complex, grotesque nature of desire and disgust. The deconstruction of gender roles provides a sophisticated comment on the natural passage of identity and selfhood. ****

-- Jen Wade

About Aliya Whiteley

Aliya Whiteley was born in Devon in 1974, and currently lives in Sussex with her husband, daughter and dog. Aliya is the author of the critically acclaimed novellas, The Beauty, and The Arrival of Missives, which have been shortlisted for various awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Shirley Jackson Award, James Tiptree Jr Award, the British Fantasy Society Awards, British Science Fiction Association Award and the Saboteurs. Her short stories and non-fiction and has been published in places such as The Guardian, Interzone, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Black Static, Strange Horizons, and anthologies such as Fox Spirit's European Monsters and Lonely Planet's Better than Fiction I and II. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice, and won the Drabblecast People's Choice Award in 2007. She lives on the South Coast of the UK.

Additional information

GOR006189425
9781907389238
1907389237
The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Red Squirrel Publishing
2014-09-01
112
Commended for James Tiptree Jr Award 2014 (United States) Short-listed for Shirley Jackson Award 2014 (United States) Short-listed for Saboteur Award 2015 (UK)
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Beauty