The Coiled Serpent
Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2024
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Atlantic Books
Published:2nd Nov '23
Should be back in stock very soon
This striking collection features surreal stories that explore the absurdities of contemporary life, including themes of work, identity, and art, showcasing the remarkable talent of one of Britain's finest young writers.
The Coiled Serpent is a striking and unsettling collection of short stories by one of Britain's most talented emerging writers. This anthology explores themes of discomfort and the grotesque, inviting readers into a world where the imagination runs wild with unsettling scenarios. The collection has garnered significant acclaim, being longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 and recognized as a Guardian and Telegraph Book of the Year in 2023.
Within these pages, Grudova presents a series of surreal narratives that challenge contemporary notions of work, identity, and art. For instance, a young girl experiences a shocking incident at a custard factory, while characters like Pax, Alexander, and Angelo find themselves captivated by a book that offers enlightenment through unconventional means. Each story is infused with a sense of the bizarre, as seen in Victoria's unsettling stay at a cursed hotel, where her health takes a mysterious turn.
The author’s unique style brings forth a vivid exploration of the absurdities of modern life, revealing the darker undercurrents of British culture. Grudova's ability to weave together strange and thought-provoking tales showcases her prowess as a writer, making The Coiled Serpent a compelling read that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned. This collection is a testament to the skill and imagination of a writer who is undoubtedly at the height of her craft.
Utterly triumphant... I can't remember the last time I read satire of the Great British institutions so crisply rendered, so exquisitely batty... Grudova has an instinct for queasily precise imagery that few can rival... She's a thoroughly sui generis visionary - and, after reading The Coiled Serpent, I'd say one of the most startlingly original writers we've got. -- A K Blakemore * Guardian *
Camilla Grudova's books make other young writers seem meek... It's weird, dark and graphic, but as her new collection proves, it's also funny and poignant and distinctive, so inventive that it makes other writing seem uncourageous. * Sunday Telegraph *
A prodigious instinct for story... careering majestically between the astonishing and the terrible to create something uniquely gripping. * Irish Times *
It's gruesome fare, served with cold precision... One imagines these stories pairing perfectly with the painter Paula Rego's paintings of women subverting fairy tales... The simmering undercurrent of rage... is all too recognisable. * Financial Times *
Grudova's stories are dark, creepy and strange, each a little off-kilter in a world where mental anxiety and fleshy reality are twisted into surreal scenarios by her fertile but festering imagination... for those with a penchant for gothictinged body horror, these are the business. * Daily Mail *
Queen of the grotesque... These stories are not for the faint of heart, and reading them is as sharply satisfying as picking at a scab. * The Skinny *
Strange, weird, twisted, sometimes surreal and always absorbing. * The Bristol Magazine *
Unsettling... refuses to gloss over the grimy reality of years of austerity with Grudova's signature abstract flair. * Big Issue *
An excellent second collection of exultantly gross-out tales * Telegraph Best Fiction Books of 2023 *
ISBN: 9781838956356
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 14mm
Weight: 321g
208 pages
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