Orange World

Orange World

Summary

'I loved Orange World... a collection of short stories in which demons live in drains, bog women come back from the dead and trees can grow inside the human body' Daisy Johnson, New Statesman BOOK OF THE YEAR

'A rare combination of literary brilliance and unbridled entertainment' Mark Haddon

These exuberant, unforgettable stories showcase Karen Russell's comedic and imaginative talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner lives. In 'The Bad Graft', a couple on a road trip stop in Joshua Tree National Park, where the spirit of a giant tree accidentally infects the young woman, their fates becoming permanently entangled. In 'The Prospectors' two opportunistic young women fleeing the Depression strike out for new territory, but find themselves fighting for their lives. In the brilliant and hilarious title story a new mother desperate to ensure her baby's safety strikes a deal with the devil to protect her baby.

Stories of survival, love and of surreal and magnificent transformation show Russell writing at exhilarating new heights.

Praise for Orange World:

'The worlds of the stories are entirely convincing, small pockets in which it is possible to become lost' Guardian

'One of our most original short story writers... Russell has impeccable command of her form' New York Times Book Review

Reviews

  • Superbly crafted...the weird and the outlandish exist side-by-side with everyday concerns... Russell is among the most skilled of this generation’s fabulist writers. In her surreal worlds, life is passing strange, but it is not devoid of wry comfort
    Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times

About the author

Karen Russell

Karen Russell is the bestselling author of two novels and several books of short stories. The winner of a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant, she was also named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists in 2007 and New Yorker’s 20 under 40. Her first novel Swamplandia! was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize and the Dublin Literary Award and longlisted for the Women's Fiction Prize; her collection St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Her new novel The Antidote will be published in 2025.
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