Diving Belles: And Other Stories

In the tradition of Angela Carter, this luminous, spellbinding debut reinvents the stuff of myth.

Straying husbands lured into the sea by mermaids can be fetched back, for a fee. Trees can make wishes come true. Houses creak and keep a fretful watch on their inhabitants, straightening shower curtains and worrying about frayed carpets. A mother, who seems alone and lonely, may be rubbing sore muscles or holding the hands of her invisible lover as he touches her neck. Phantom hounds roam the moors and, on a windy beach, a boy and his grandmother beat back despair with an old white door.

In these stories, the line between the real and the imagined is blurred as Lucy Wood takes us to Cornwall's ancient coast, building on its rich storytelling history and recasting its myths in thoroughly contemporary ways. Calling forth the fantastic and fantastical, she mines these legends for that bit of magic remaining in all our lives--if only we can let ourselves see it.

Author: Lucy Wood
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: 08/07/2012
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.30w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780547595535

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/11/2012 pg. 26
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2012
Booklist 08/01/2012 pg. 22

About the Author
Wood, Lucy: -

LUCY WOOD grew up in Cornwall and attended Exeter University, where she completed a BA in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. She currently lives in Cornwall.