Threads and Distortions
by Jess Richards
£10.99
Paperback: 978-1-9194476-1-2
Take a traditional fairy story, turn it on its head or inside-out, tease it with irony, wisdom and compassion, and you have Threads and Distortions, a collection of darkly enchanting tales that expose the hidden, sometimes hurtful seams of contemporary life.
Step into sparkling worlds, each wondrously whole and tremblingly authentic. Those who dwell in them – raindrops, moths, a grandmother who fits in a pocket, and words that vanish – speak truths that will surprise and unsettle you. With a disturbing beauty, Threads and Distortions asks you to reconsider what is safe, familiar and good.
Praise for the author’s previous book, Birds and Ghosts:
A storyteller at the height of their craft pulling you into their beautiful, tender and often heart-breaking world.
– Kerry Hudson, author of Lowborn
An act of generous vulnerability, deep insight, and consummate artistry.
– Naomi Foyle, poet, essayist and novelist
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About Jess Richards
Jess Richards is the author of three literary fiction novels: Costa shortlisted Snake Ropes, Cooking with Bones, and City of Circles (Sceptre) and an experimental memoir - Birds and Ghosts (Linen Press). She also writes short fiction, vispo and poetry. Her short story, Before the Gale, won the London Independent Story Prize in 2023. Her PhD thesis Illusions, Transformations, and Iterations: storytelling as fiction, image, and artefact (2020) earned her a place on the Dean’s List at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. Originally from Scotland, Jess now lives in West Yorkshire and works at the University of Leeds. Threads and Distortions (short fictions) is her fifth book, and is being published by Linen Press in September 2026.
Books by Jess Richards