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Sourdough Universe
The Tallow-Wife: and Other Tales
Return to the dreaming streets of the cathedral-city of Lodellan, where a new generation of characters face fairy tales and nightmares. Cordelia Parsifal has an enviable life, hard won, but the ghosts of the past are soon to remind her that no sin or omission goes unnoticed. Slumbering saints awake, hind-girls dance, boys become bears, and the fate of the upper- and under-earths rests on the whim of a single, volatile creature.
352 pages, Paperback
First published February 18, 2021
4 people are currently reading
585 people want to read
About the author
Angela Slatter
189 books831 followersAngela Slatter is the author of the urban fantasy novels Vigil (2016) and Corpselight (2017), as well as eight short story collections, including The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and A Feast of Sorrows: Stories. She has won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, and six Aurealis Awards.
Angela’s short stories have appeared in Australian, UK and US Best Of anthologies such The Mammoth Book of New Horror, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror, and The Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction. Her work has been translated into Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, and Romanian. Victoria Madden of Sweet Potato Films (The Kettering Incident) has optioned the film rights to one of her short stories.
She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop 2006, and in 2013 she was awarded one of the inaugural Queensland Writers Fellowships. In 2016 Angela was the Established Writer-in-Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Perth.
Her novellas, Of Sorrow and Such (from Tor.com), and Ripper (in the Stephen Jones anthology Horrorology, from Jo Fletcher Books) were released in October 2015.
The third novel in the Verity Fassbinder series, Restoration, will be released in 2018 by Jo Fletcher Books (Hachette International). She is represented by Ian Drury of the literary agency Sheil Land for her long fiction, by Lucy Fawcett of Sheil Land for film rights, and by Alex Adsett of Alex Adsett Publishing Services for illustrated storybooks.
Angela’s short stories have appeared in Australian, UK and US Best Of anthologies such The Mammoth Book of New Horror, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror, and The Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction. Her work has been translated into Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, and Romanian. Victoria Madden of Sweet Potato Films (The Kettering Incident) has optioned the film rights to one of her short stories.
She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop 2006, and in 2013 she was awarded one of the inaugural Queensland Writers Fellowships. In 2016 Angela was the Established Writer-in-Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Perth.
Her novellas, Of Sorrow and Such (from Tor.com), and Ripper (in the Stephen Jones anthology Horrorology, from Jo Fletcher Books) were released in October 2015.
The third novel in the Verity Fassbinder series, Restoration, will be released in 2018 by Jo Fletcher Books (Hachette International). She is represented by Ian Drury of the literary agency Sheil Land for her long fiction, by Lucy Fawcett of Sheil Land for film rights, and by Alex Adsett of Alex Adsett Publishing Services for illustrated storybooks.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 20, 2021
Just as good as The Bitterwood Bible and Sourdough. The world in which these tales are set is colorful, beautiful...and terrifying. I've never read anything quite like this format of mosaic stories. They kind of remind me of Charles de Lint, only much darker.
I hope for more anthologies set in this world.
I hope for more anthologies set in this world.
November 28, 2021
A lovely addition to the world that Angela Slatter has so carefully constructed with Sourdough and Other Stories and The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings. I highly recommend reading both Sourdough and Bitterwood Bible before this one, as in addition to a running plot throughout many of the stories, there are continuations or extensions of characters or arcs from the earlier two collections that readers will enjoy or appreciate.
It's hard for me to quantify just how much I love Slatter's work with these stories. I don't know if it's because it threads the right needle when it comes to darker fantasies and terrible endings? There's often a great fairy tale feel to these despite not actually being classical fairy tales.
No particular favorites here, though the final story completes one of the sadder character arcs I've read throughout these stories.
It's hard for me to quantify just how much I love Slatter's work with these stories. I don't know if it's because it threads the right needle when it comes to darker fantasies and terrible endings? There's often a great fairy tale feel to these despite not actually being classical fairy tales.
No particular favorites here, though the final story completes one of the sadder character arcs I've read throughout these stories.
February 5, 2023
A beautiful conclusion to the trilogy of connected short stories from the world of Lodellan, with the previous collections being Sourdough and other stories and the Bitterwood Bible. Slatter's world building and capacity to empathise with all her characters is her strength.
Particularly strong stories from this collection are the novella 'The Tallow-Wife', a story of family and betrayal, and the conclusion to that storyline in 'And a young husband to bury me'. Cordelia Parsifal is a entrancing character, and a brilliant twist at the end I did not see coming.
For new readers, it really helps to have read the previous two collections, and the novella 'No Good Deed', to get the full depth of the world, but is enjoyable in the main without having done so although some references will be lost outside of the main storyline following Cordelia Parsifal.
Particularly strong stories from this collection are the novella 'The Tallow-Wife', a story of family and betrayal, and the conclusion to that storyline in 'And a young husband to bury me'. Cordelia Parsifal is a entrancing character, and a brilliant twist at the end I did not see coming.
For new readers, it really helps to have read the previous two collections, and the novella 'No Good Deed', to get the full depth of the world, but is enjoyable in the main without having done so although some references will be lost outside of the main storyline following Cordelia Parsifal.
November 23, 2024
Well, this almost can't be had for love or money... ended up paying a fortune on eBay, and miraculously NOT another one in import customs. It had better be good... (not worried, really)
*
It's here!! 🍾🥂🎉🎉🎉
*
The third and final book concluding the trilogy of the mosaic story collections set in the wonderfully terrifying Sourdough world.
Three of the stories were already in "A feast of sorrows", but appear here with - extra surprise! - some seductive tweaks 😍 (daughter of the current Lodellan prince ran away, led astray by a witch??... do tell)
First read for pure bliss only... to be followed by second read and calmer reflections on the stories :)
*******
#re-read
Pure poetry ❤️
The promise of saints - madness and magic, trying to wrap my mind around this one... Traditions of jewelled saints leading towards imagery of No Good Deed, where we find Isobel, the ancestor of the Lawrence sisters. It's place in the story becomes clearer later.
The tallow wife - title novella, on Cordelia Lawrence's downfall, and her beginning, opening the way for a quest of revenge. Rich and colourful, like the carnival it describes, and that's a shining example of Angela's way with words, as she paints us pictures of the travelling show. Has everything ❤️
What shines brightest burns most fiercely - payback time begins, and old acquaintances surface, giving also the timeline (Theodora!!)
Embers and ash - we find Ella, who did not find piece. And a strange inn, and a runaway witch and princess
Bearskin - Torben's story, of love, loss and redemption
The nightingale and the rose - Victoria, and now things really start happenning with Cordelia's arc, filling me with delight :). Did not see that coming with the Agnew sisters!
Of ghosts and glory - Magdalene is back, and more on Jacopo's story, family ties and some great revenge
A stitch in time - Merry at Singing Vines, in an encounter with Bethany
Sleeping like snow - finding out more on what Selke's been up to, jewelled saint is back, soon to become bone lantern… Also hind-girls ❤️
Crossroads - everything happens here! A colorful whirlwind of ends, beginnings, regrets, plotting and revenge
And a young husband to bury me - new revelations, new sacrifices, the essence of a mother's love
By such paths - we opened with Ella in the Shadow tree, and we close with Ella.
Some stopped at nothing to gain immortality, others only longed to be free of it.
*
It's here!! 🍾🥂🎉🎉🎉
*
The third and final book concluding the trilogy of the mosaic story collections set in the wonderfully terrifying Sourdough world.
Three of the stories were already in "A feast of sorrows", but appear here with - extra surprise! - some seductive tweaks 😍 (daughter of the current Lodellan prince ran away, led astray by a witch??... do tell)
First read for pure bliss only... to be followed by second read and calmer reflections on the stories :)
*******
#re-read
Pure poetry ❤️
The promise of saints - madness and magic, trying to wrap my mind around this one... Traditions of jewelled saints leading towards imagery of No Good Deed, where we find Isobel, the ancestor of the Lawrence sisters. It's place in the story becomes clearer later.
The tallow wife - title novella, on Cordelia Lawrence's downfall, and her beginning, opening the way for a quest of revenge. Rich and colourful, like the carnival it describes, and that's a shining example of Angela's way with words, as she paints us pictures of the travelling show. Has everything ❤️
What shines brightest burns most fiercely - payback time begins, and old acquaintances surface, giving also the timeline (Theodora!!)
Embers and ash - we find Ella, who did not find piece. And a strange inn, and a runaway witch and princess
Bearskin - Torben's story, of love, loss and redemption
The nightingale and the rose - Victoria, and now things really start happenning with Cordelia's arc, filling me with delight :). Did not see that coming with the Agnew sisters!
Of ghosts and glory - Magdalene is back, and more on Jacopo's story, family ties and some great revenge
A stitch in time - Merry at Singing Vines, in an encounter with Bethany
Sleeping like snow - finding out more on what Selke's been up to, jewelled saint is back, soon to become bone lantern… Also hind-girls ❤️
Crossroads - everything happens here! A colorful whirlwind of ends, beginnings, regrets, plotting and revenge
And a young husband to bury me - new revelations, new sacrifices, the essence of a mother's love
By such paths - we opened with Ella in the Shadow tree, and we close with Ella.
Some stopped at nothing to gain immortality, others only longed to be free of it.
March 7, 2024
Another great collection of short stories…except it felt more like a novel with different perspectives. These short stories are all part of the same story, rather than individual stories that happen in the same world like her previous volume. I was happy with the conclusion of Cordelia’s story, and each of the characters.
June 2, 2023
It took me a little while to start enjoying these stories, but by the end I was hooked! Will definitely be searching out more soon
November 6, 2017
I can always rely on Angela Slatter to shatter my heart.
This wee volume was put together by Fablecroft for Conflux, the Canberra SF convention, this year. It's a teaser for Slatter's next volume of stories set in the world of Sourdough and Bitterworld Bible, basically. The main feature is the title story, with a couple other short bits included, and - to make it extra special - illustrations from Kathleen Jennings.
"The Tallow-Wife" is exactly the sort of story I have come to expect from Slatter, especially when it's a story from this world. It's a family story, it's a gentle story, it's a nasty story as only family stories can be. There's hints and suggestions of machinations that aren't spelled out, there's layers of heartbreak and confusion, and it's all presented in beautiful prose that sometimes bewilders me: how can such lovely words be telling a story that tears me up? It took me a good couple of weeks to read this - I read it in two sittings but after I put it down the first time I was super reluctant to pick it back up because I knew it would just hurt. And it did, but it was worth it, and I loved it for all the pain.
It must be noted that this is a lovely object, too. Hard cover, Jennings pictures; it's a delight.
This wee volume was put together by Fablecroft for Conflux, the Canberra SF convention, this year. It's a teaser for Slatter's next volume of stories set in the world of Sourdough and Bitterworld Bible, basically. The main feature is the title story, with a couple other short bits included, and - to make it extra special - illustrations from Kathleen Jennings.
"The Tallow-Wife" is exactly the sort of story I have come to expect from Slatter, especially when it's a story from this world. It's a family story, it's a gentle story, it's a nasty story as only family stories can be. There's hints and suggestions of machinations that aren't spelled out, there's layers of heartbreak and confusion, and it's all presented in beautiful prose that sometimes bewilders me: how can such lovely words be telling a story that tears me up? It took me a good couple of weeks to read this - I read it in two sittings but after I put it down the first time I was super reluctant to pick it back up because I knew it would just hurt. And it did, but it was worth it, and I loved it for all the pain.
It must be noted that this is a lovely object, too. Hard cover, Jennings pictures; it's a delight.
October 24, 2017
The tallow wife is a rather grim tale about the betrayal of one sister onto another. It is poetically written and well thought out with lovely illustrations. It is my understanding that the hardcover edition is limited, so if you would like a copy I suggest you contact Fable Croft Publishing straight away. It is certainly well worth a read.
October 23, 2017
Angela Slatter's tales are beautifully written, full of magic and real, painful life--despite and because of their fairy tale nature. Irresistible.
The book itself it a lovely object--hardcover, nicely design, and evocatively illustrated.
The book itself it a lovely object--hardcover, nicely design, and evocatively illustrated.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews