{"product_id":"9780349006536-stone-mattress","title":"Stone Mattress","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNine Wicked Tales\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA collection of highly imaginative short pieces that speak to our times with deadly accuracy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBY THE AUTHOR OF \u003ci\u003eTHE HANDMAID'S TALE\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e THE TESTAMENTS \u003c\/i\u003eAND \u003ci\u003eALIAS GRACE\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Dark and witty tales from the gleefully inventive Margaret Atwood. Witty verve, imaginative inventiveness and verbal sizzle vivify every page' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA recently widowed fantasy writer is guided through a stormy winter evening by the voice of her late husband. An elderly lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome comes to terms with the little people she keeps seeing, while a newly formed populist group gathers to burn down her retirement residence. A woman born with a genetic abnormality is mistaken for a vampire, and a crime committed long ago is revenged in the Arctic via a 1.9 billion-year-old stromatolite.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e collection of nine acerbic, mischievous, gulpable short stories' \u003ci\u003eHarper's Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Atwood's prose is so sharp and sly that the effect is bracing rather than bleak' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'[Look at these tales] as eight icily refreshing arsenic Popsicles followed by a baked Alaska laced with anthrax, all served with impeccable style and aplomb. Enjoy!' Ursula K. Le Guin, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Atwood has characters here close to death, dead already, unwittingly doomed or - in one memorable case - freeze-dried; but her own curiosity, enthusiasm and sheer storytelling panache remain alive and kicking' \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40405020639329,"sku":"9780349006536","price":9.42,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_29820761.jpg?v=1725782104","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780349006536-stone-mattress","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}