The complete stories of Leonora Carrington

The moment when, as a teenager, I first discovered the phantasmagorical paintings of Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo was one of those rare moments that froze time and forever altered my perception of the world, both within and without. Their respective oeuvres revealed a door inside of me that had always been there, but I’d not quite noticed on my own. My love for their exquisitely beautiful and strange surrealist works knows no bounds, so you can imagine how elated I was to discover that Carrington was also an accomplished writer. To open the cover of this complete collection of her short stories, deliciously dark fairy tales that are nothing short of magical, is to accept Carrington’s proffered hand as she personally guides you deep into paintings she created with written words instead of pigment. They’re every bit as enchanting, unsettling, whimsical, terrifying, and singularly strange as one might expect based upon her painted works. I find that in talking about this book I don’t want to spoil a single image or scene by citing it here. No peeks for you! May each of these stories be as unexpected and bewitching for you as the were for me.