Twenty tales of lust and loss. These stories feature clockwork hearts, lascivious queens, paper men, island circuses, and a flooded world; some are radical retellings of classic stories, some are modern-day fables, but all explore substitutions for love.

North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life. Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically to one another - and to the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous...

In their tiny, sea-beaten cottage on the north coast of Scotland, Liska and Ruth await the birth of their first child. Each passes the time by telling the baby stories, trying to pass on the lessons they've learned: tales of circuses and stargazing, selkie fishermen and domestic werewolves, child-eating witches and broken-toothed dragons.

'The best lives leave a mark.' A bewitching tale of first love, shattering grief, and the dangerous magic that draws us homeMara's island is one of stories and magic, but every story ends in the same way. The Gloaming is a gorgeous tale of love and grief, and the gap between fairy tales and real life.

'Gripping . 'A brilliant collection of stories . All will burrow their way into your brain and not let go' Stylist'Shimmers with menace .