By Julia Armfield
Hardback - £12.99
The population is hit by widespread insomnia when people find that their ‘Sleep’ leaves their bodies as a physical manifestation. The narrator reflects on a community in utter confusion - what has caused this bizarre shift in their natural routine and why are some people unaffected by it? – and vividly captures individual relationships with sleep as a concept and a reality. There is an element of the extraordinary in this debut collection of short stories produced by Julia Armfield, former winner of the White Review short story prize. Many of the stories focus on dramatic changes. A seemingly awkward girl, an outsider preoccupied with her physical shortcomings, becomes a powerful and deadly creature. A young girl who is strangely brought to live with a wolf following her father’s remarriage takes on wild characteristics. Armfield examines a wide range of emotions and insecurities in these beautifully crafted stories. She moves from the ordinary to the peculiar but throughout each story she uses exquisite prose to describe transformations and vivid scenes, whether it be a beach covered with dying jellyfish or a band on tour with a sinister secret.
salt slow is a powerful collection: strange and utterly thrilling.