A child receives the body of Saint Lucia of Syracuse for her seventh birthday. A rebelling angel rewrites the Book of Judgement to protect the woman he loves. A young woman discovers the lost manuscript of Jane Austen written on the inside of her skin. A 747 populated by a dying pantheon makes the extraordinary journey to the beginning of the universe. Lyrical and tender, quirky and cutting, Helen Marshall's exceptional debut collection weaves the fantastic and the horrific alongside the touchingly human in fifteen modern parables about history, memory, and cost of creating art.
Hair Side, Flesh Side
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Most helpful customer reviews
By ReadHead
Format:Paperback
This debut collection takes on big concepts like history, memory and art, but it does so through stories that are surprisingly funny, quirky, emotional and human. My favorite story "Sanditon" focuses on an editor who, in the midst of an affair with a famous author, discovers a lost manuscript of Jane Austen written on the inside of her skin. She then must negotiate the power balance of their relationship as they try to publish. The story plays well off another story, "Dead White Men", where a twenty-something bar fly picks up a woman who acts as a medium, channelling the ghosts of dead authors into the bodies of her lovers. This is an exceptionally well-crafted collection, with themes returning in various forms throughout the fifteen stories, falling somewhere between Jorge Luis Borges, Jasper Fford, and Neil Gaiman. Highly recommended!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5.0 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Voice Worth Hearing
Dec 13 2012
By Catherine MacLeod
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Helen Marshall's "Hair Side, Flesh Side" is a collection of beautifully-written, thought-provoking stories--but some of the thoughts they provoke make it hard to look your reflection in the eye. She has an enviable imagination: the first story, "Blessed," is about a seven-year-old who receives the body of Saint Lucia of Syracuse for her birthday. You have to wonder about a woman who not only thinks of a thing like that, but makes you believe it to the point of leaving tear stains on the pages.
The book's title is apt. Marshall dissects some of her subjects, and autopsies others. "Pieces of Broken Things" and "The Art of Dying," especially, will make you flinch. "The Mouth, Open" will kill your appetite for a while. She's not afraid to dig deep.
My two favourite stories are "Sanditon," about an editor who finds a missing Jane Austen manuscript written inside her skin, and "Dead White Men," a ghost story that would make MR James proud.
Though her stories have soft tones of other writers--Neil Gaiman, Holly Phillips, Gemma Files, and yes, even Jane Austen (she has a very good ear for dialogue,) her voice is her own.
It is well-worth hearing.
The book's title is apt. Marshall dissects some of her subjects, and autopsies others. "Pieces of Broken Things" and "The Art of Dying," especially, will make you flinch. "The Mouth, Open" will kill your appetite for a while. She's not afraid to dig deep.
My two favourite stories are "Sanditon," about an editor who finds a missing Jane Austen manuscript written inside her skin, and "Dead White Men," a ghost story that would make MR James proud.
Though her stories have soft tones of other writers--Neil Gaiman, Holly Phillips, Gemma Files, and yes, even Jane Austen (she has a very good ear for dialogue,) her voice is her own.
It is well-worth hearing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sophisticated and delicious creepiness
Jan 24 2013
By GreensRGood
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
For a new author, Helen Marshall shows she has learned a lot about writing disturbing, elegant stories that jar the reader into a sense of unsettled tension, while leading the reader towards an unanticipated conclusion. Categorizing the stories according to the different parts of the human body provide a deliciously creepy framework to structure her stories. It is not just her ability to write unsettling prose that impresses, but her careful characterization that allows the reader to idenify closely with her characters, making the effect of the strange action feel very personal.
This is an author to watch. She immediately goes onto my "A" list (i.e., I'll read anything she publishes).
This is an author to watch. She immediately goes onto my "A" list (i.e., I'll read anything she publishes).
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gets Under Your Skin
Nov 23 2012
By ReadHead
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This debut collection takes on big concepts like history, memory and art, but it does so through stories that are surprisingly funny, quirky, emotional and human. My favorite story "Sanditon" focuses on an editor who, in the midst of an affair with a famous author, discovers a lost manuscript of Jane Austen written on the inside of her skin. She then must negotiate the power balance of their relationship as they try to publish. The story plays well off another story, "Dead White Men", where a twenty-something bar fly picks up a woman who acts as a medium, channelling the ghosts of dead authors into the bodies of her lovers. This is an exceptionally well-crafted collection, with themes returning in various forms throughout the fifteen stories, falling somewhere between Jorge Luis Borges, Jasper Fford, and Neil Gaiman. Highly recommended!
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