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9781473653559

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A breath of fresh air...fantastical, magical and mysterious...Every idea found in this book is bizarre, original, and crafted with a quirky style that captivated me from start to finish. * Why Words Work * 'dark, twisted fairy tales' -- Kirsty Logan * The Herald * Full of wonder: brilliantly imaginative, with dark, unsettling undercurrents ... The characters sparkle with a sense of the surreal, but these outcasts, misfits and loners are filled with hopes and dreams, and are as believale as those in any true-life novel. * Psychologies * Funny and poignant and unexpected. A fable for our times. -- Sarah Franklin Interesting and refreshing ... an extremely enlightening read * TN2 Magazine * Jen Campbell's intensely imaginative stories can only be described as beautiful and bizarre. This collection is filled with fantastical elements that give it a dangerous and charming flavour. * Bustle * These stories are weaved together like silvery fishing nets. Like shimmering, jewel- bright worlds * Helen McClory * This book is full of character and magic, and I found myself mesmerised * Claire Fuller, bestselling author of OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS * Enchanting and whimsical, curiously beautiful and illuminating * Carys Bray, bestselling author of A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY * totally weird and wonderful * Emerald Street * Jen Campbell's intensely imaginative stories can only be described as beautiful and bizarre. This collection is filled with fantastical elements that give it a dangerous and charming flavor. * Bustle * razor-sharp critique of contemporary issues and deeply moving short stories * Stylist * A darkly clever, beautifully written and deliciously twisted collection of modern fairy tales -- Sarra Manning * Red * There are so many intriguing characters and situations to be enjoyed in The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night...Jen Campbell is clearly a writer to watch. -- Katy Goodwin-Bates * New Books magazine * 'Campbell's fairy tales retain a kaleidoscope quality from the first to the last page...a reality coloured by our imagination in which we are as strong as we are vulnerable, as similar as we are different.' Sanja Gligoric 'I was hooked from the first sentence of the first story. They're so twisted and dark and a genuine pleasure to read ... so strange and magical.' Louise O'Neill Interwoven with myth and fairy tale, these stories are surprising, delightful, and by turns dangerous and joyful, like walking through a mirror and discovering a world that you both recognise and have never seen before. -- Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Mining myths and fairy tales, Campbell gives voice to the outsiders, misfits and lost souls in the most mesmerising way. * Daily Mail * There is dark enchantment in these wonderfully strange tales * Daily Mail * A collection of twelve haunting stories packed with modern fairy tales about outsiders and lost souls ... It's something Campbell, who writes beautifully, believes is important to document. * Grazia * The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a gem of a book * Stylist * quietly excellent * Stylist * Campbell's entirely fresh reframing of classic fairytales within modern experiences...really got me thinking. The perfect autumnal read to curl up with. * Stylist *

A series of twisted fairy tales that speak to the heart, comprising a book that I cannot praise enough * Goodreads * A breath of fresh air...fantastical, magical and mysterious...Every idea found in this book is bizarre, original, and crafted with a quirky style that captivated me from start to finish. * Why Words Work * 'dark, twisted fairy tales' -- Kirsty Logan * The Herald * Funny and poignant and unexpected. A fable for our times. -- Sarah Franklin Interesting and refreshing ... an extremely enlightening read * TN2 Magazine * Jen Campbell's intensely imaginative stories can only be described as beautiful and bizarre. This collection is filled with fantastical elements that give it a dangerous and charming flavour. * Bustle * These stories are weaved together like silvery fishing nets. Like shimmering, jewel- bright worlds * Helen McClory * This book is full of character and magic, and I found myself mesmerised * Claire Fuller, bestselling author of OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS * Enchanting and whimsical, curiously beautiful and illuminating * Carys Bray, bestselling author of A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY * Visceral, sinister and yet strangely beguiling ... her stories often explore characters, situations and settings caught in that strange area between the known and the unfamiliar, between the normal and the 'monstrous' ... Comparisons could be made to Angela Carter, but Campbell's stories have a quality completely their own; haunting in their imagery and powerful in their brevity. -- Carolyn Percy * Wales Art Review * totally weird and wonderful * Emerald Street * Jen Campbell's intensely imaginative stories can only be described as beautiful and bizarre. This collection is filled with fantastical elements that give it a dangerous and charming flavor. * Bustle * razor-sharp critique of contemporary issues and deeply moving short stories * Stylist * There are so many intriguing characters and situations to be enjoyed in The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night...Jen Campbell is clearly a writer to watch. -- Katy Goodwin-Bates * New Books magazine * 'Campbell's fairy tales retain a kaleidoscope quality from the first to the last page...a reality coloured by our imagination in which we are as strong as we are vulnerable, as similar as we are different.' Sanja Gligoric 'I was hooked from the first sentence of the first story. They're so twisted and dark and a genuine pleasure to read ... so strange and magical.' Louise O'Neill Interwoven with myth and fairy tale, these stories are surprising, delightful, and by turns dangerous and joyful, like walking through a mirror and discovering a world that you both recognise and have never seen before. -- Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Full of wonder: brilliantly imaginative, with dark, unsettling undercurrents ... The characters sparkle with a sense of the surreal, but these outcasts, misfits and loners are filled with hopes and dreams, and are as believale as those in any true-life novel. * Psychologies * A darkly clever, beautifully written and deliciously twisted collection of modern fairy tales -- Sarra Manning * Red * A collection of twelve haunting stories packed with modern fairy tales about outsiders and lost souls ... It's something Campbell, who writes beautifully, believes is important to document. * Grazia * The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a gem of a book * Stylist * quietly excellent * Stylist * Campbell's entirely fresh reframing of classic fairytales within modern experiences...really got me thinking. The perfect autumnal read to curl up with. * Stylist *

Author Information

JEN CAMPBELL is an award-winning poet and short story writer. Her debut short story collection, The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, is published by Two Roads and her children's picture book series about a book-loving dragon called Franklin is published by Thames & Hudson. She is also the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops series and The Bookshop Book. She received an Eric Gregory Award, was awarded the Jane Martin Poetry Prize, and her poetry collection The Girl Aquarium is forthcoming from Bloodaxe.

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