Animal Behaviour (Paperback or Softback)

***Highly Commended in the Ellipsis Zine Flash Collection Contest***

A mother watches her son grow from a sweet child into a troubled adult...
A jilted lover finds hope one magical evening...
A cobbler breathes life back into a pair of lucky shoes...

Animal Behaviour titles each of its short stories with animal facts, but the experiences they describe are very much human. The cast of characters is diverse but the world they inhabit is universal: one in which all of us will recognise fragments of our own lives in some form, an echo of our shared humanity.

This second edition contains six new stories, unpublished anywhere else.

“Bold in voice, rich in metaphor, daring in approach, Animal Behaviour is a startling debut. In these very short tales, Amanda McLeod demonstrates an uncanny understanding of life and the living. By turns strange, beautiful, aching and transcendent, these stories and the humans how inhabit them will leave their mark on your mind and heart long past the final page. Highly recommended.”
—Kathy Fish, author of Wild Life: Collected Works from 2003-2018

“The playful prose in flash collection Animal Behaviour will make you smile, nod along with recognition, then unexpectedly punch you in the gut with superb final phrases (see A Captive Octopus Will Eat Its Own Arms If Bored Or Stressed). McLeod’s use of animal facts as titles is a clever mechanism to allow the reader to see the human experience in a new light. Take each flash at a time, don’t gulp them in one go. Each reading of this collection shows a new layer of interpretation…You will recognise your friends, your family, yourself.”
—Stephanie Carty, author of Three Sisters of Stone

“I love the concept of Animal Behaviour, the way each story shines a light on an aspect of human behaviour which mimics, reflects or echoes that same behaviour in the animal kingdom. McLeod’s language is seductive and lyrical, she writes beautifully and with empathy, and every story in this collection is a gem.”
—Amanda Huggins, author of Collective Nouns for Birds and Scratched Enamel Heart