Forest, Darkly

A.G. Slatter has won a Shirley Jackson Award, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, three Australian Shadows Awards, eight Aurealis Awards and a Premier Ignotus. Most recently, All the Murmuring Bones was shortlisted for the 2021 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Book of the Year and the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award; The Path of Thorns won both the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Australian Shadows Award for Best Novel in 2022; and The Briar Book of the Dead has been shortlisted for both the Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards for 2024. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, and has been a judge for the World Fantasy and Aurealis Awards. Angela's short stories have appeared in many Best Of anthologies, and her work has been translated into many languages. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with a superannuated beagle and a TBR pile which will likely be the death of her. Find her on her website angelaslatter.com and on social media @angelaslatter

Praise for A Forest, Darkly:A Forest, Darkly is a lush, blood-wet bramble of a fairytale promising we are each of us so much more than the worst thing we've ever done. Given the wicked elegance with which A.G. Slatter traverses the glens of folklore, one can't help wonder if she might just be a changeling, herself.-GennaRose Nethercott, author of Thistlefoot and Fifty Beasts To Break Your HeartNo one does gothic fairytales like A.G. Slatter. A Forest, Darkly is an atmospheric, slow-burn dream of a novel. Its protagonist, the resilient Mehrab, is a breath of fresh air, a glimmer of light in the dark forest. With enough life experience to justify her solitude, but with the courage to let others in despite it all, her narration makes for a book that is not only bleak and witty in equal turns, but strangely comforting too, and ultimately hopeful: It is never too late to start your next adventure.-Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart and The Weaver and the Witch QueenA Forest, Darkly is a grimly enchanting tale, both inspired and ancient, spun of whispered things. At its heart beats Mehrab, a refreshingly perimenopausal main character, full of fabled magic yet wildly relatable. With a voice that is dark and mellifluous, the story drips from Slatter's honeyed fingertips onto the page, guiding you forward like stones on a path. At turns mysterious, mythical, and menacing, the world she builds is one you'll long to visit again and again. This book is a tall mug of something hot and mulled beside a roaring fire. Be warned-you can drink your fill, but you'll only crave more.-Ava Morgyn, USA Today bestselling author of The Bane WitchA hauntingly enchanting fairy tale led by a striking, older heroine. It's a perfect point of entry to the Sourdough world for new readers and a treat for returning fans.-Publishers WeeklyEvery book in A.G. Slatter's Sourdough world is a delicious, creepy-cosy gift, and A Forest, Darkly is her best yet. You'll fall in love with Mehrab, the solitary forest dweller, even if you find - as I did!-you end up envying her a little too: can you say cottagegore #goals? Slatter tells her witchy, wood-set story with wit and charm, and plenty of gruesome gothic chills, while delivering sneaky wisdom about ageing, obligation, and how to hold your head up high.-Ally Wilkes, author of All the White Spaces and Where the Dead WaitWitches in trouble oft find their way to dark forests - and this is one of the darkest.' With these words, A Forest Darkly gripped me with green, leafy hands, pulling me from the safety of the path and into the great, dark forest that is the stage of Angela Slatter's latest tale... A tale of found family, fairy tale and folklore, and the enduring power of women, A Forest Darkly is earthy, strange and utterly enthralling. I was completely lost in it, in the best of ways.-Kell Woods, author of After the Forest and Upon a Starlit TideHatchet-sharp, as relentless as the slicing of roots through bedrock, A Forest, Darkly is by turns tender, terrifying, and enthralling. Slatter's lyrical prose only heightens the pain of being forced to dig out the secrets of the past, like a poisoned sliver from a long-closed wound.-Premee Mohamed, author of The Butcher of the ForestA strange and beautiful novel woven with magic, folklore, faery and humanity. A superbly imagined world, teetering on the familiar and the deep unknown - The Handmaid's Tale by way of the Brothers Grimm! A rich, dark, rewarding read - Mehrab is a character to remember!-Kate Griffin, author of FyneshadeA gorgeous fairytale of a novel. Creeping, comforting and cunning in turn, A Forest Darkly lures you into a luscious world of folklore and nature. Slatter spins a story that deserves to be told around a fire, passed on like the best of folktales.-Jodie Matthews, author of Meet Me at the SurfaceAngela Slatter's A Forest, Darkly is a haunting novel that weaves itself around your heart. Despite the weight of her years and the well-earned paranoia of a witch carving a life for herself in a dark and unpredictable forest, Mehrab does her best by the local villagers and her unexpected young ward. Readers will be drawn in by the compelling heart of the novel - the fight for genuine connection in an unfair world.- Nicole Jarvis, author of The Lights of Prague and A Spell for Change