Unmasked — Christine Elliott

Unmasked is the début collection of an eclectic storyteller who uses magic, myth and mayhem to mine the rich seams of human emotion underlying everyday life. Powerful themes of insanity, betrayal, death and the innate fear of strangers embroider this bold collection, promising to leave readers with "grit" long after they have finished reading. The funeral of a newborn (Kiss the dirt) exposes the dark underbelly of desire in a small country town while The Last Letter reaches through time to find the courage to say goodbye. Tiptoe with Cally along the edge of sanity before slumbering in the warp and weft of the Storyteller's magical song. Unmasked is as real as it is bold, a must read from an emerging writer who "...knows how to take you to the edge of the cliff and leave you hanging there."