“Some homeschool days, the lounge is a sea, stairs a snowcapped mountain, bathroom a jungle, Mum and Dad’s bedroom a sun-seared dessert…”
The stories in The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain speak of togetherness and separation: how we strive to connect with that one person who could save us, and how we attempt to save the people who most matter to us.
Discover the lost, the self-conscious, the reckless. Learn how to milk an alpaca. Encounter a river with one thing on its mind. Touch on moments of isolation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out how a ghost tree could bring a community together. Witness the moment when friendship sparks into something more. Consume a life in one mouthful. Meet the lovers, the families and the undefinable others who make up these worlds and sweep us along.
Darley has a beguiling and distinct voice; her writing is never less than beautiful. A captivating collection.
—Amanda Huggins, author of Crossing the Lines and All Our Squandered Beauty
Beautifully written and frequently surprising, this book is a wonderful read for these unusual and uncertain times.
—Gaynor Jones, author of Among These Animals
There’s so much loveliness in Darley’s collection, often in the most unexpected places. In every way, this is a collection for all the senses to savour.
—Fiona J Mackintosh, author of The Yet Unknowing World
This wise and tender collection, steeped in nature and human nature, is a balm for an aching soul. Rich and diverse, deep but accessible, this dark forest of stories is endlessly dappled with intelligence, empathy, wit, kindness, and hope.
—Tom O’Brien, author of Straw Gods
Darley’s dexterous writing converges with the often intangible complexities when connecting to self, other, and the environment. This extraordinary collection provokes us to engage with each of our senses simultaneously so that we may float untethered…
—Iona Winter, author of Gaps in the Light and then the wind came
I will revisit these stories again and again because their surreal and exquisite evocation of the everyday really made me think.
—Jan Kaneen, author of The Naming of Bones
Judy Darley asks what it is to be alive today, in this world, right now, in a way that constantly surprises, informs and excites.
—Alison Woodhouse, author of The House on the Corner and Family Frames
Judy Darley is the author of two previous short story collections: Remember Me to the Bees (Scopophilia/Tangent Books) and Sky Light Rain (Valley Press). Remember Me to the Bees was shortlisted for the Edgehill Prize. She grew up in Thornbury, near Bristol, and has a BA in Journalism. Her short stories, flash fiction and poems have been widely published, and read by the author on BBC radio, in pubs, caves, and a disused church, as well as at literary festivals and charity events. Find her on Twitter @JudyDarley.
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