So cool to get on someone's best of for the year lists!
Les Femme Grotesque by Victoria Dalpe
I was a massive fan of Victoria Dalpe’s debut novel Parasite Life and I am delighted that this absorbing novel receives a well-deserved re-release in 2023 after an unfortunate spell out of print. Dalpe has been widely published in many collections and the full range of her impressive skill set can be enjoyed in Les Femme Grotesque. This exquisite collection has an impressive range of stories, with predominately female narratives, and I found myself marveling at the plotlines, changes of pace, varied settings and unsettling clashes of the everyday mundane with the supernatural. I usually read collections rather slowly, however, as I advanced through this book, my pace quickened and I found myself thinking “just one more”, which is always a good sign, being lured into a sinister shadow space, one both familiar and uncanny. This is a sly and silky exploration of the dark femininity where things often do not end well for the male of the species. Remind me to stay on the good side of Victoria Dalpe.
read whole list here-
