Of Mothers And Little People

A Short Story

by Lucy Wood

On Sale: 08/01/2012

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Of Mothers And Little People

A Short Story

by Lucy Wood

On Sale: 08/01/2012

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About the Book

In Cornish folklore, the “little people” are one of a complex tribe of elves, pixies and fairies. Their world is invisible to the human eye; some folks say that young women are chosen to go and live in their world to look after the babies. But what happens to these women when they return? On a weekend home, a daughter accidentally discovers the invisible world, made visible, that her mother’s loneliness may be misleading, and that long-forgotten rumors about her mother’s relationship with the little people are more real than she had ever credited.

Critical Praise

"Each year, book blurbs tell you that a thousand new writers have fresh, distinctive voices. But fresh, distinctive voices are actually very rare. Lucy Wood has one."
—Michel Faber, author of The Crimson Petal and the White "Lucy Wood has an intensity and clarity of expression, deeply rooted in a sense of place. Her stories have a purity and strength, and an underlying human warmth; they resonate in the mind."
—Philip Hensher, author of The Northern Clemency “Magical and bewitching tales.”
—Vogue (UK) "A vibrant new voice ... Why read it: for her distinctive voice and sense of place."
—Tatler, "Top Titles" (UK) "Llovely and intriguing ... Wood pulls off a careful balancing act between fantasy and reality, folkloric past and prosaic present...Winsome, quirky, and sometimes enchanting, Wood’s stories seem to fish about in rock pools of imagination... Her gift… is for conjuring up gentle suspensions of disbelief."
—The Sunday Times (UK) "Cornish folklore for the modern day, done in a beautiful, spooky way."
—Harper’s Bazaar (UK) "This bewitching short story collection draws its power from a deft blend of Cornish folklore and everyday contemporary cares. Centered mostly around women—young women, old women, women becalmed somewhere in between—magic encroaches upon their narratives as slowly but surely as the incoming tide, so that even the most outlandish goings-on come to seem natural."
—Daily Mail (UK) "A winning combination of spooky mystery and toast-and-tea coziness, with much warmth and tenderness."
—Metro (UK), 4/5 stars —