Old Babes in the Wood Stories

There are authors we turn to because they can uncannily predict our future; there are authors we need for their skillful diagnosis of our present; and there are authors we love because they can explain our past. And then there are the outliers: those who gift us with timelines other than the one we re stuck in, realities far from home. If anyone has proved, over the course of a long and wildly diverse career, that she can be all four, it s Margaret Atwood. Long may she reign...If you consider yourself an Atwood fan and have only read her novels: Get your act together. You ve been missing out.
Rebecca Makkai, New York Times Book Review

Old Babes in the Wood is touching, smart, funny, and unique in equal measure A dazzling mixture of stories that explore what it means to be human while also showcasing Atwood's gifted imagination and great sense of humor.
NPR

These fifteen stories are a master class in how to write, a rollicking good time, and a deep exploration of human relationships the damage we do to each other and the ways we come together. Delving into Atwood s work feels a bit like coming home you can trust her to tell a good story and not make any gaffes along the way.
Brooklyn Rail

"Atwood explores love and loss in this brilliant collection that mixes fantastical stories about the afterlife with realism...She s writing at the top of her considerable powers here."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The celebrated author s first collection of short fiction since Stone Mattress (2014)...Honest and artful depictions of aging and loss."
Kirkus