Anya Achtenberg calls The Stories of Devil-Girl a novella, but it reads more like a poem – a wild, surreal poem that occasionally bursts out in pain, in suffering so clearly described that it’s painful to read.

The stories are not straightforward, but it is easy to pick out the threads – abuse (both physical and sexual), poverty, rape, prostitution and the struggle to make something of her life. They are told bluntly, with language that is sometimes fanciful, sometimes blunt. It is beautiful in the way that sad, haunting music can be beautiful.

I received my copy through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program; you can order your copy here.