Thank you SO MUCH @picadorbooks for gifting me what had become one of my top books of the year and an all time favourite short story collection! If the perfect short story collection exists, then it is Salt Slow by Julia Armfield, and I’m planning on writing her a letter to ask her to write me a short story every day so I never run out of ones to read - is that selfish?
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I was in love from the first story, a raw and painful portrayal of the relationship between young girls and their bodies, the competitiveness that they instinctively feel while going through puberty, which then takes a sinister turn, setting the tone for the rest of the stories.
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I wouldn’t say there is a single weak story within this collection. The Great Awake, an eerie yet tender story where people’s ‘Sleeps’ have left their bodies and now follow them around like pets, Collectables, delightfully gruesome and sharp, Salt Slow, a haunting end-of-the-world story with all things tentacles beneath the sea, Cassandra After, a woman coming to terms with her sexuality, made more difficult when her girlfriend dies then comes back. I’m not sure I could pick a favourite - maybe Formerly Feral?! But all were truly excellent, Armfield’s imagination is a thing of many creepy wonders.
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The extraordinary and ghoulish is told in a matter of fact way, lending a ring of authenticity which is in itself is unsettling. Within the stories she explores gender roles, sexuality, societal pressures, growing up, falling in love, but all with that magical realism touch that takes it to the next level and leaves you wondering what’s simmering beneath the skin...
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If you love dark, viscous, oozing, visceral stories then you must have Armfield on your radar! I will be waiting with bated breath for more by her!