The Silver Bestiary

On a train, a woman smells a familiar perfume and suddenly leaves her marriage. One hot afternoon a man confesses a horrifying secret about a child in his past. A tutor attempts to explain entropy to a bored schoolgirl. A woman buys the services of a man who comes with a mysterious medallion and scars from a distant war. The short stories in this collection focus on that fiercely hot space of desire, obsession, and the passion which transforms men and women. Born in Glasgow, A.R. McHugh was educated at the universities of Sydney and Oxford and now lives in Sydney. This is her third collection of short stories.

Only a woman of surpassing self-possession would wear so many bees at her neck, and allow them to suck the pearls there, without fear of being stung to death in her scented loveliness. Only he could have bought it, and she worn it.