An exquisite collection of haunting, magical stories from Newbery Medalist Kelly Barnhill
When Mrs. Sorensen's husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in "Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch." In "Open the Door and the Light Pours Through," a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. "Dreadful Young Ladies" demonstrates the strength and power-known and unknown-of the imagination. In "Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake," a witch is haunted by the deadly repercussions of a spell. "The Insect and the Astronomer" upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing. The World Fantasy Award–winning novella "The Unlicensed Magician" introduces the secret magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead-with thematic echoes of Barnhill's Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon.
With bold, reality-bending invention underscored by richly illuminated universal themes of love, death, jealousy, and hope, the stories in Dreadful Young Ladies show why its author has been hailed as "a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman" (Minneapolis Star Tribune). This collection cements Barnhill's place as one of the wittiest, most vital and compelling voices in contemporary literature. Kelly Barnhill lives in Minnesota with her husband and three children. She is the author of four novels, most recently The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the 2017 John Newbery Medal. She is also the winner of the World Fantasy Award and has been a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, a Nebula Award, and the PEN/USA literary prize. Visit her online at kellybarnhill.com or on Twitter: @kellybarnhill. "[A] playful, witchy collection of addictive tales."
-O, The Oprah Magazine
"Kelly Barnhill won the prestigious Newbery Medal last year for her children's story The Girl Who Drank The Moon. Her new book Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories is just as fantastical but delves into darker, more complicated worlds for adult readers."
-Lulu Garcia-Navarro for NPR
"Finds the author at her most poignant and surprising."
-Entertainment Weekly
"The eight short stories and one novella in Newbery Medalist Barnhill's collection are haunting and beautifully told . . . Each story is written in intensely poetic language that can exult or disturb, sometimes within the same sentence, and evokes a dreamlike, enchanted mood that lingers in the reader's mind. These tales are made to be reread and savored."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Barnhill's exquisite prose leads readers down many fantastical roads . . . the themes of love, grief, power, and hope tie the individual stories together in a masterly way . . . Barnhill highlights fantasy's breadth with unusual settings and extraordinary characters living outside of the realm of reality. A magical volume for fans of the genre."
-Library Journal, starred review
"Exquisite . . . Perfect for readers of the weird and fantastically wonderful. Give to fans of Alice Hoffman, Laura Ruby, and Seanan McGuire."
-School Library Journal
"Newbery medalist Barnhill dazzles in her short story collection for adults . . . This is a well-crafted short story collection featuring elements of magic realism while touching on the themes of love, grief, hope, jealousy, and more. Fantasy readers-especially fans of Neil Gaiman or even Kelly Link-will appreciate this spellbinding collection."
-Booklist
"Reminiscent of Ray Bradbury or Angela Carter . . . Whether Barnhill's settings are contemporary, historical, or dystopian, she mixes the feeling of fairy tales with the psychological preoccupations of literary fiction."
-Kirkus Reviews
"The fabulous, the speculative and the surreal make up the stories in Barnhill's marvelous collection, Drea
