FRUITING BODIES
June 7, 2022.
2023 Pen/Faulkner Longlisted Book
This genre-bending debut collection of stories constructs eight eerie worlds full of desire, wisdom, and magic blooming amidst decay.
In stories that beckon and haunt, Fruiting Bodies ranges confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanny, as it follows characters—mostly queer, mostly women—on the precipice of change. In “The Changeling,” two young cousins wait in dread for a new family member to arrive, convinced that he may be a dangerous supernatural creature. In “Endangered Animals,” Jane prepares to say goodbye to her almost-love while they road-trip across a country irrevocably altered by climate change. In the title story, partners Agnes and Geb feast peacefully on the mushrooms that sprout from Agnes’s body—until an unwanted male guest disturbs their cloistered home.
For readers of Carmen Maria Machado and Karen Russell, Fruiting Bodies offers stories about knowledge in a world on the verge of collapse, knowledge that alternately empowers or devastates. Pulling beautifully, brazenly, from a variety of literary traditions, Kathryn Harlan firmly establishes herself as a thrilling new voice in fiction.
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Praise for Fruiting Bodies
“These excellent stories are insightful, transporting, and gloriously uncanny. In story after story, Fruiting Bodies uncovers knowledge that is tantalizing and terrible.”
—Kristen Valdez Quade, author of The Five Wounds
“A debut of astonishing range and beauty, nimble and magical and profound. In stunning prose, Kathryn Harlan’s wildly imaginative and daring stories reveal the anguish of growing up in a dying world. Her characters’ quest for knowledge—about themselves, their families, their bodies, and their yearnings—will thrill and haunt you.”
—Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers
“Oh my gosh Kathryn Harlan’s stories are so good—they’re feral and formal and funny and exactly what you want when you turn to a person you love and say ‘tell me a story.”
—Amber Sparks, author of And I Do Not Forgive You
“Allow me to tell the unvarnished truth: Fruiting Bodies is going to knock your socks off. Put on your socks right now and get prepared. Kathryn Harlan’s writing is just what you’re looking for, but something you’ve never seen before.”
—Judith Claire Mitchell, author of A Reunion of Ghosts
“Fruiting Bodies is abundant with dark and tender wonders. In the spirit of Shirley Jackson, Kathryn Harlan coaxes their characters’ secret feelings into the open, where they bloom into compelling dramas. A book as loving as it is eerie, full of queer love and queer longing, I so enjoyed my stay in the deep woods of Harlan’s imagination.”
—CJ Hauser, author of Family of Origin
“This is an extraordinary, gorgeous, wildly imaginative collection of stories. I know I will be returning to them again and again.”
—Beth (Bich Minh) Nguyen, author of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner
Reviews & Media
“Harlan’s prose is beautiful and vivid, and each story has elements of beauty and horror, evocative of, as the narrator of “Algal Bloom” puts it, “nothing I had words for, like the end of the world.” […] This is well worth diving into.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
You can feel the gothic dread in these stories. Harlan’s characters encounter life-altering events, their worlds mutable and poised for change.
— Center for Fiction, Proud
“The worlds Harlan creates feel both expansively fantastical and palpably real. A stunning literary portrayal of the climate apocalypse, Fruiting Bodies provides a window into how we can make life out of decay.”
— Vulture, 18 Best Books of the Year (So Far)
Kathryn Harlan’s debut short story collection is right up my alley: tales of women and girls with a touch of the supernatural and strange, engaging with our (very strange, sometimes supernatural) world. […] I’ll be eating this one up slowly, bite by bite.
— LitHub, 9 Short Story Collections You Need to Read This Summer
These coming-of-age stories about young women are sometimes set against a backdrop of climate change, sometimes in altered magical worlds. […] Original, deftly told stories that chart coming-of-age in perilous times for our planet.
“A stunning debut that will definitely resonate with fans of Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties.”
— Shondaland, Celebrate Pride with 15 New and Forthcoming Books by LGBTQ+ Authors
Kathryn Harlan is a fiction writer and educator. Originally from California, she and her cat are now based in Oregon. She holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has taught creative and academic writing. Her work has appeared in publications like Strange Horizons, The Gettysburg Review, and The Colorado Review.
Photo Credit: Dale Robinette