Paradise Block

Description

'Taps into a deep and compelling strangeness with vigour and humour and heart... A disturbing and moving collection' - Chris Power, author of Mothers In Paradise Block, mould grows as thick as fur along the walls, alarms ring out at unexpected hours and none of the neighbours are quite what they seem. A little girl boils endless eggs in her family's burnt-out flat, an isolated old woman entices a new friend with gifts of cutlery and cufflinks, and a young bride grows frustrated with her unappreciative husband, the caretaker of creaking, dilapidated Paradise Block. With a haunting sense of place and a keen eye for the absurd, these thirteen surreal stories lure us into a topsy-turvy world where fleatraps are more important than babies and sales calls for luxury coffins provide a welcome distraction. Lonely residents live in close proximity while longing for connection.

Alice Ash is a writer and maker. of short films. Her story 'Eggs' was longlisted for the Galley Beggar Prize 2019, and her writing has been featured in Hotel, 3:AM Magazine, the TLS and Extra Teeth, among others. She is based in Brighton. Find her on Twitter as @aliceash_.

'In these brilliant stories Alice Ash taps into a deep and compelling strangeness with vigour and humour and heart. This is a disturbing and moving collection, an unusual combination I'd like to encounter more often. "I cannot look away", one of her narrators remarks; that's how I felt, too.' - Chris Power, author 'A collection to savour - strange, funny, touching; Paradise Block is bound to be one of the debuts of the year ... it's very good' - Eliza Clark, author of Boy Parts 'Searingly brilliant ... She is a witch with words.' - Emma Jane Unsworth 'Alice Ash's writing gets right at the rot underneath the polish of things, picking out the gothic in the full light of day. ... These are dangerous stories of the best kind: treading the line between terror and delight. I couldn't peel my eyes off them.' - Livia Franchini, author 'The best weird fiction holds up a fairground mirror to what we blithely call normal, reflecting a reality that warps and flickers. In Paradise Block, Alice Ash creates a world that is disturbingly Not. Restless and unsettling, these stories take a step sideways and away from the expected. Uneasy and deliciously wrong.' - Rosie Garland, author