There are flashes of brilliance in this short story by Rowena Macdonald (who also has a short story in Unthank Book’s Red Room anthology). My Beauty is a meditation on the meaning of beauty, following Danuta’s attempt to replace Sven’s favourite mink, Princess, in his affections.
The following are just a few lines that jumped out at me:
‘Forty animals gutted and stitched together. Shadow pearl trimmed with silverblue.’
‘Soon the farm will be rich in snow.’
‘Snow has swathed the farm in luxurious folds, lending an uncanny light to the darkness.’
‘Pale things are rare and easily sullied.’
The short story has been published by Galley Beggar Press and is one of their Galley Beggar Press Singles initiative, available for download for £1 a piece from: http://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/book-store/
With one of their authors, Eimear McBride, winning the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize for her debut novel, ‘A Girl is a Half-formed Thing’, Gallery Press is a small publisher with a great eye for new voices. Rowena is one of those voices.