Shortlisted for the Saltire Society SCOTTISH FIRST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014 Following in the tradition of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea and Valerie Martin's Mary Reilly, THE MONSTER'S WIFE is a literary gothic that re-envisions the classic Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein from the perspective of the girl Victor Frankenstein transformed into a Bride for his monster. To a tiny island in Orkney, peopled by a devout community of twenty, comes Victor Frankenstein, driven there by a Devil's bargain: to make a wife for the Creature who is stalking him across Europe. In this darkly-wrought answer to Frankenstein, we hear the untold tale of the monster's wife through the perspective of the doctor's housemaid. Oona works below stairs with her best friend May, washing the doctor's linens and keeping the fires lit at the Big House. An orphan whose only legacy is the illness that killed her mother, Oona knows she is doomed. But she is also thirsty for knowledge, determined to know life fully before it slips away. As tensions heighten between Victor and the islanders, Oona becomes the doctor's trusted accomplice, aiding in secret experiments and seeing horrors she sometimes wishes to forget. When May disappears, Oona must face up to growing suspicions about the enigmatic employer to whom she has grown close - but the truth is darker than anything she could imagine.

From a bright new talent comes a twisting psychological thriller with a shocking conclusion, perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, B.A. Paris and Helen Fields. A MISSING FAMILY Barefoot, bloodied, with no memory of what has happened to her - Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods in France and discovers that her exchange family have mysteriously disappeared. A SMALL TOWN SEEKING REVENGE Journalist Molly Swift is drawn to the mystery and prepared to do anything to learn the truth, including lying to get close to Quinn. But when a shocking discovery sparks fury in the town, Quinn is arrested for murder. DARK SECRETS DRAGGED INTO THE LIGHT As a trial by media ensues, Molly is left to unravel the town's disturbing past and clear Quinn's name - but is she really innocent? Or is she a cunning killer intent on getting away with murder?

Kate Horsley tells the story of a young girl's search for identity in a brutal and unforgiving world. Set in an impoverished village in rural Ireland in the 1300s, Horsley's memorable heroine must reckon with gender confusion, the hypocrisy of the Church, widespread disease, and the social iniquities imposed by the British invaders. In the process she becomes many people and ultimately gains insight into the impermanence of identity.

A collection of short fiction, stories, plays and an excerpt.

This is a collection of short stories entered into the Fine Line Short Story Prize.