Twelve stories, separated into seasons of life, are told through the perspectives of maidens, mothers, and crones. Each one shows us how a fractured reality-or a fractured mind-can warp even the most mundane of events into a bizarre tale.
From a
twenty-something office worker trapped by a mountaintop cult to an unstable
mother trying to resist the urge to flee to another dimension, one by one,
these women step to the edge of what they know and see the impossible looking
back at them.
This speculative collection meanders through genres including urban fantasy, science fiction, magic realism, steampunk, folk horror, and cosmic horror. Perfect for readers who are, themselves, strange and unusual.
My review...
The word weird in the title of this book is definitely
descriptive. Some are spooky, some are written to make your imagination work,
and some are what I’ll call a little quirky. All are quite readable.
I am not a fan of short stories, but most of these stories
seem to have a little depth to them. They aren’t complicated. They aren’t deep.
But they do have an actual story, which I sometimes think short stories do not.
A nice short book to be read at one sitting or several
stories for a break now and then.
Read an excerpt from...A Greener Pasture (Mothers)
Veronica stopped her train of thought before it veered into the darkest tunnel in her mind. After the day she had just endured, she could not risk treading into the stretch of her grey matter that unwillingly dwelled on the unfairness of being the sole caregiver for an emotionally unstable and exceedingly defiant daughter—complete with behaviours that no mental health professional had ever been able to alleviate. She wanted to soothe Mia’s suffering. But with each passing day, her resentment grew.
Days like this, when she had to add one more traumatic memory to the wobbly brick tower of her life, a breathless desperation clawed at her insides, fighting to come to the surface, no matter how hard Veronica struggled to contain it.
She looked down at her arm; she had been scratching at a patch of heat rash inside her elbow. The skin wept where her nails had broken through. She looked down at her amulet and her mind flicked back to the utopian vision. It couldn’t be real. But … maybe.
She lifted her arm and pressed the stone side of the amulet into her wound, feeding it her blood once more. Light burst from the seam between her flesh and the metal object. A fluttering sound, like a flag flicking in the wind, drew her attention to a small portal in the air next to her face. Instinctively, she lurched back. The camp chair tipped, throwing off her centre of gravity, sending her feet flailing in response. She recovered her balance and thudded forward on the deck with a crash. She snapped her attention back to the impossible window next to her.
about Christine Hart...
Christine Hart is a writer of speculative fiction for youth and adults. She also runs an online metalsmithing shop, Hart Fabrications.
She
holds a BA in English and Professional Writing, as well as current membership
with the Federation of BC Writers.
Christine’s
backlist includes YA, NA, and MG titles. Her debut novel, Watching July, won a
gold medal from the Moonbeam Children's awards in the mature issues category.
Her
first collection of adult fiction, Weird Stories of Strange Women, is coming in
the summer of 2026.
She
lives in Langley, BC with her husband and two children. Learn more about
Christine and her work at hart-fabrications.com and christine-hart.ca.
Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/christine-hart.bsky.social
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/hart_fabrications/
TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hartfabrications
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