Assemblage explores small town Southern myths, pregnancy as body horror, humans who exist on the periphery, and the place of art in modern society. Although the stories are grounded in reality, each one possesses a spectral echo of the surreal.
I am a fan of Abigail's. Her writing is ridiculously bingeable. Go ahead, crack open one of her books and tell me you didn't accidentally read it cover to cover in a matter of hours without even noticing the time passing.
In this collection, Abigail infuses each of her stories with just the right amount of magical realism. They lean slightly left of center when you least expect it and continued to surprise me at every twist and turn.
This collection is so stellar. It's amazing how Stewart is able to speak to so many different conversations while also keeping each tale readable and digestible. More on this to come.