From the neck up

This outstanding, Gothic-tinged collection of 16 stories from Whiteley (Skyward Inn) shimmers with visceral, bodily prose, powerful ecological themes, and multifaceted explorations of human connection and aging. Anchor novella "Brushwork" is the unqualified star, unspooling complex power dynamics as "agro-terrorists" seize a corporate organic farm manned by elderly indentured workers. The resulting tangled class and power struggle is reminiscent of P.D. James. The depth of Whiteley's ideas and the care she takes with them elevate the collection's shorter works, as well, imbuing the utopian "Farleyton" with a studied compassion, using "Many-Eyed Monsters" to probe the "fight between the desire and the disgust of sickness," and turning the title story, in which a laid-off woman discovers a decapitated head, into a gentle exploration of vocation. Whiteley's sharp eye for human nature pinpoints both wryness and despair but always avoids cruelty, raising difficult questions and never settling for easy answers. Readers of Jeff Vandermeer, Meg Ellison, and Jeffrey Ford will love this complex, grotesque, and brilliantly humanistic collection. (Sept.)

Winner of numerous awards for her short fiction, Whiteley is back with another excellent collection of 16 lyrical, thought-provoking original stories. On a surface level, they incorporate the tropes of science fiction and fantasy, but at heart, they aim to make readers feel more deeply the unease and discomfort of horror. The stories, of varying lengths, feature cli-fi, monsters, aliens, fairy tale frames, and general weirdness that's just on the speculative side of normal, grabbing readers' attention but leaving them unsettled at the conclusion of each story. "Into the Glass," a short but powerful body horror tale of love and art, is a perfect example of Whiteley's way of melding darkness with beauty; it's a showcase of her ability to lure readers in and unsettle them with her stories, then hook them into turning the page and experiencing it all over again. VERDICT This beguiling and beautiful, yet undeniably unnerving collection, with its tales of the ordinary made strange, will captivate readers. It explores provocative and intriguing feelings similar to those in the short stories of Samanta Schweblin, Kelly Link, and Carmen Maria Machado.