Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2024
An arresting, discomforting collection from 'one of Britain's best young short story writers' (Daily Telegraph) that revels in the rotten and festers in the imagination.

LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2024
GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

A little girl throws up Gloria-Jean's teeth after an explosion at the custard factory; Pax, Alexander, and Angelo are hypnotically enthralled by a book that promises them enlightenment if they keep their semen inside their bodies; Victoria is sent to a cursed hotel for ailing girls when her period mysteriously stops. In a damp, putrid spa, the exploitative drudgery of work sparks revolt; in a Margate museum, the new Director curates a venomous garden for public consumption.

In Grudova's unforgettably surreal style, these stories expose the absurdities behind contemporary ideas of
work, Britishness and art-making, to conjure a singular, startling strangeness that proves the deft skill of a writer
at the top of her game.