You might think summer was a time for warmth, light and joyous things, but over on the Gutter website, we’ve darker tales to offer.
Our Book of the Month is Mrs Burke and Mrs Hare, Michelle Sloan’s retelling of the story of Edinburgh’s infamous graverobbers and murderers – this time with their wives, Helen McDougal and Lucky Hare, at centre stage.
These ‘impressively cunning women … bring vigour and vitality to the page’, writes our reviewer Jannath Fazli, and the novel is ‘an exploration of gender, justice, and the political nature of history itself.’
‘Through the astute Lucky and the comparatively submissive and reluctant Helen, Sloan creates space for versatility in the form of the femme fatale. To add to this, while both characters are violent and dangerous in their own ways, neither is sexualised overtly, subverting the conventional depiction of the ‘dangerous woman.’’
It’s a fascinating review of a fascinating book (and thanks to Jannath Fazli for the title of this month’s letter).
Another treat on the website is a story by the fabulous writer Rachelle Atalla. An undercurrent of threat runs through ‘Cactus Arms’, which begins in the aftermath of an amputation, with ‘the ball-like stump’ of Paul’s arm, ‘bandaged in cream’. That undercurrent rises to the surface as the story progresses.
The narrator – Paul’s wife Hannah – struggles to adjust to the idea of her changed husband. Her love for him was severed before the loss of his limb; now, she is ‘struck by the notion of his fingernails – five of them that would never grow again.’
Atalla raises the tension expertly, focusing her drama on an otherwise innocuous object. Please do have a read of the story here.
Issue 32
Next month you’ll finally get your hands on issue #32 of Gutter, and what a great issue it is. The full lineup will be revealed in August, but among the writers featured are Chitra Ramaswamy, Dani Garavelli, Dan Richards, Marjorie Lotfi, Sasha de Buyl and Scotland’s current Makar Peter Mackay / Pàdraig MacAoidh. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can sign up here on Substack as a Friend or Patron, or else you can visit our website for a standard annual subscription.
Opportunities
Don’t forget, if you live in Scotland and identify as BPOC, you’re eligible to apply for our Guest Reader programme. We’re currently advertising for someone to join the Gutter team for Issue #33, and we’re looking forward to reading your application. Yes you!