Burning Angel and Other Stories
'Brilliant' SUNDAY TIMES
'Compelling and unnerving' SPECTATOR
This first collection of stories by Lawrence Osborne perfectly showcases his talent for tension, atmosphere - and characters out of their depth
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A deaf girl hired as a maid by a wealthy New York couple turns the tables on her obliviously abusive employers and answers blackmail with blackmail. A psychiatrist treating a girl in rural England becomes ensnared in a love affair that threatens to destroy her career. A naïve young linguist sent to the forests of Irian Jaya is manipulated into betraying her mission by a ruthless and disturbed pastor.
Lawrence Osborne’s stories explore characters lost in the shadowed borders between the mundane, the fantastical and the violence of the natural world.
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‘This is stylish, subversive fiction from a writer at the top of his game’ New Statesman, Books of the Year
‘If you appreciate stories with stings in the tail, you will enjoy this fiendishly cunning new collection’ Mail on Sunday
Born in England, Lawrence Osborne is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Forgiven, The Ballad of a Small Player, Hunters in the Dark, Beautiful Animals, Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe novel (commissioned by the Raymond Chandler estate), The Glass Kingdom and On Java Road. His non-fiction ranges from memoir through travelogue to essays, including Bangkok Days, The Naked Tourist and The Wet and the Dry. His short story 'Volcano' was selected for Best American Short Stories 2012.
The Forgiven, starring Ralph Fiennes, Matt Smith and Jessica Chastain was released in 2022. Osborne lives in Bangkok.