{"title":"Books by Susan Barker","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780008697358","title":"Of the Flesh","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFear never dies…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young. These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror. From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eREADERS ARE OBSESSED\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Stunning\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Well-plotted and horrifying\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger… bravo\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story 'Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685725184373,"sku":"9780008697396","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56221952016757,"sku":"9780008697358","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008697396.jpg?v=1792598890"},{"product_id":"9780241682388","title":"Old Soul","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe most mesmerising, unsettling novel of 2025, perfect for fans of David Mitchell, Julia Armfield, and Margaret Atwood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Sinister, mysterious and gorgeously realised' KALIANE BRADLEY, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Ministry of Time\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Old Soul \u003c\/i\u003ewill sneak into your dreams and haunt you' CLAIRE FULLER, author of \u003ci\u003eUnsettled Ground\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe woman never goes by the same name.\u003cbr\u003eShe never stays in the same place too long.\u003cbr\u003eShe never ages. She never dies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBut those around her do.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEach encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or \u003ci\u003ewhat\u003c\/i\u003e she is, she has already made her next choice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Snags the reader in its claw and mesmerizes from page one' Monique Roffey, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Mermaid of Black Conch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Like nothing else I've ever read ... The kind of story you tell around a campfire as the lights of civilization begin to flicker out around you' Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Beguiles, terrifies and utterly seduces you ... At once a thriller, a postmodern mystery and an existential horror tale' Megan Abbott, author of \u003ci\u003eEl Dorado Drive\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Brilliant, horrifying ... So much fun, fantastically tense and wonderful' Evie Wyld, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Echoes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Clever, spooky ... Kept me guessing to the end' Chloe Benjamin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Immortalists\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A mesmerizing story, brilliantly told' Ian McGuire, author of \u003ci\u003eThe North Water\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Smart, taut and twisty ... Deftly delivers the chills' Karen Joy Fowler, author of \u003ci\u003eWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685736194421,"sku":"9781405963657","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56229753553269,"sku":"9780241682388","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781405963657.jpg?v=1792598903"},{"product_id":"9781784160005","title":"The Incarnations","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMesmerizing, fantastical tale of a Beijing taxi driver whose past incarnations over a thousand years haunt him through searing letters sent by a mysterious soulmate\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice and Notable Book of the Year.\u003cbr\u003eShortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Reads as China's \u003ci\u003eMidnight's Children\u003c\/i\u003e. Utterly remarkable' \u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eA kaleidoscopically imaginative novel' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Multi-layered and masterful' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eI dream of us across the centuries ...\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeijing\u003c\/b\u003e, 2008, the Olympics are coming, but as taxi driver Wang circles the city's congested streets, he feels barely alive. His daily grind is suddenly interrupted when he finds a letter in the sunshade of his cab. He is being warned: Someone is watching him. Someone who claims to be his soulmate and to have known him for over a thousand years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOther letters follow, taking Wang back in time: to a spirit-bride in the Tang Dynasty; to young slaves during the Mongol invasion; to concubines plotting to kill the emperor; to a kidnapping in the Opium War; and to Red Guards during the Cultural revolution.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd with each letter, Wang feels the watcher in the shadows growing closer ...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR SUSAN BARKER\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'[A] kaleidoscopically imaginative novel...Barker stitches together an unnervingly perceptive portrait of China and of the enduring influence that its past has on the present' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE NEW YORKER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A thrilling journey through a thousand years of obsession and betrayal, this is the most extraordinary work of imagination you'll read all year'\u003cb\u003e ADAM JOHNSON, Winner of the PULITZER Prize for Fiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Erudite, intriguing and compulsively readable, Susan Barker, a born story-teller, has written one of the most remarkable novels of recent years' \u003cb\u003eJOHN BOYNE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A brilliant, mind-expanding, and wildly original novel' \u003cb\u003eCHRIS CLEAVE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A hallucinatory ride. Highly recommend'\u003cb\u003e ANNA HOPE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305177788789,"sku":"9781784160005","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781784160005_da296163-9fd2-48aa-a80a-8f067e1c1e8e.jpg?v=1786025953"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-susan-barker.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}