The Bloody Chamber, Wise Children, Fireworks

Book excerpt: An omnibus of works by the great British writer that showcases her hauntingly erotic fabulism and the subversive richness of her imagination. In The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter's famous collection of deeply unsettling stories inspired by fairy tales, we see a Beauty who turns into a Beast, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother stoned as a werewolf, and Bluebeard as a murderous, porn-addicted businessman. In the surreally delightful novel Wise Children, an elderly woman recounts the colorful life she and her identical twin sister led as vaudeville performers. And the early story collection Fireworks reveals Carter taking her first forays into the fantastical writing that was to become her unforgettable legacy. As critic Laura Miller has argued, "Most contemporary literary fiction with a touch of magic owes something to Angela Carter's trailblazing." This Everyman's Library omnibus gathers the best of Angela Carter in one astonishing volume.