Stone Mattress

IN Margaret Atwood’s fiction, vampires are not the stuff of unrequited love or sickly-sweet fantasy.

There is, however, a story about a young girl with an unexplained genetic abnormality that makes people think she is a vampire. And like the undead, she is condemned to living in the shadows of the society.

While this may sound improbable (and bizarre), in the hands of the Booker Prize-winning author and her amazing, razor-sharp wit, the riveting story of this doomed girl is brought to life.

Eight years after Moral Disorder, Atwood’s new collection of short stories is Stone Mattress.

Other stories include a woman who comes face-to-face with a man who molested her 50 years ago, a fantasy novelist who is coming to terms with the death of her husband, and an elderly lady getting to grips with Charles Bonnet syndrome.

There is unsettledness and unease in her tales, but what makes them so engrossing is the subtle skill in blending the present life and past flashbacks of the protagonists into one seamless narrative that is peppered with dark, ironic humour. If you are an Atwood fan, you won’t be disappointed.