The Slantwise Histories

**These tales tell a different truth: slantwise and by starlight. Award-winning and internationally bestselling author Alix E. Harrow delivers a fantastical collection of stories old and new. Tales about tricksters and ghosts, ordinary magic and mundane spectacle, all in the tradition of Angela Carter, Anne Sexton and Carmen Maria Machado.** Stretching from ancient battlefields to the American freeway’s neon-lit attractions, these stories are filled with tricksters, ghosts and ordinary magic. They honour the people caught in the jaws of history; women, workers, soldiers and mothers — everyone who’s been shoved into the margins of the world. Whether exploring the airless, unchanging dark of an underworld, tracking werewolves through snow-crusted mountain passes or watching a steel mill grind a community into ash, these narratives dive into mysteries that might have been. But these tales aren’t tragedies. They are the triumphant stories of the ones who got away; the dissenters and rule-breakers who ran — and tossed a match behind them as they left. This collection includes Alix’s acclaimed novelette The Six Deaths of the Saint and the Hugo-Award winning story that started her career: A Witch's Guide to Escape. * * * Praise for Alix E. Harrow: 'This book has everything you could possibly want' — Reese Witherspoon on Starling House 'Alix E. Harrow is an exceptional, undeniable talent' — Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Girl Dinner 'A feat of the ages. An utter masterpiece . . . I loved every single page' — Rachel Gillig, New York Times bestselling author of One Dark Window, on The Everlasting 'I was utterly trapped in its pages – and now free, already long to return' — Caitlin Starling, Bram Stoker Award Winner and bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence on The Everlasting 'No one writes about why we read quite like Alix E. Harrow ' — Ava Reid, No.1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning