The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags and Other Stories

After her friend’s suicide, a woman discovers her true identity. Trash overwhelms the world. A sleeping woman is worshipped by all who see her. The Dalai Lama replies to a letter. A young woman finds peace with a homeless man, but the material world follows them to their paradise. After a bizarre accident, a girl is found in a crater, unable to speak.

Melanie Lamaga’s stories are wonderfully bizarre, rooting themselves in the real world only long enough to lull the reader into a false sense of security before twisting the landscape in marvelous, weird ways. People transform and shed previous lives like dead skin, catastrophes descend from unlikely vectors, and second chances lurk in unexpected places. She straddles the line between New Weird and Urban Fantasy, and does so with style.

But at the heart of each story is human connection, and no matter what circumstances swirl or rage around them, the protagonists of her stories always find truth in conversation and communication. This adds a universal accessibility to stories that on the surface might appear too weird for the average reader.

The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags is a terrific introduction to a writer that I expect will do great things.