By turns chilling and tender, darkly atmospheric and beautifully crafted, the stories that make up Lottie Mills' debut collection are a meditation on otherness.

A mother rejects her daughter in favour of a meticulously created porcelain doll. A father and daughter build a life for themselves on an isolated beach, only to collide painfully with the outside world when their secret home is discovered. A young bride struggles to control her terror before her new husband, until she glimpses the fear that he has worked so hard to conceal.

In vibrant, musical prose, Lottie Mills captures the experience of characters excluded by a society that cannot accept their difference. This eerie collection of modern fairy tales announces the arrival of an outstanding young voice.