We are barely into 2021 and Angela Slatter is already having quite a year. A novel (
All the Murmuring Bones as A.G. Slatter) and a collection of microfiction (
Red New Day and Other Microfictions) were both reviewed here last month. Add
The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales to the list. It is a gorgeous new mosaic collection of tales (with illustrations by Kathleen Jennings) of the world Slatter previously explored in collections
Sourdough and Other Stories and
The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, novella
Of Sorrow and Such, and the aforementioned novel. Only four of its twelve stories have been previously published. Slatter’s Lodellan (and its fictional environs) is vaguely Victorian, sometimes a bit Irish, a somehow-familiar “other.” It’s a comfortable place (as most are) for those with the means to buy comfort – not that many do. And – just as in the real world – whatever one may possess is always in danger of being lost. There are forces at play, though,