The Coiled Serpent

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE

“One of the most startlingly original writers we’ve got.” –A K Blakemore, Guardian

A collection of singular and viscerally strange short stories from the author of The Doll’s Alphabet and Children of Paradise. Brought to you by the publisher of A Certain Hunger.

A custard factory explosion has shocking ramifications for a small community; a book promises three young men enlightenment if they restrain from their most primal of urges; a cursed hotel for ailing girls welcomes a new guest whose period has mysteriously stopped; the exploitative drudgery of work sparks revolt in a damp, putrid spa; and at the Margate museum, the new director curates a venomous garden for public consumption.

In her U.S. debut, Grudova channels Angela Carter, Lemony Snicket, and Ottessa Moshfegh with dreamlike subversiveness and humorously surreal results. The Coiled Serpent excavates the crumbling old-world toxicity of Britain and the sputtering absurdities of late-stage capitalism, all while bringing to life a cast of characters who will haunt you well into the night.