Tender Morsels
Tender Morsels (2008) is a novel by Australian author Margo Lanagan. It won the Ditmar Award in 2009 for Best Novel and was joint winner of the 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
Plot summary
Based on the Brothers Grimm story of "Snow-White and Rose-Red", this novel tells the story of 15-year-old motherless Liga, who has been repeatedly raped by her father. When she is pregnant with her third child – the first two having been forcibly miscarried – she attempts to take her own life but is instead transported to a magical place; a haven from the real world where she and her two daughters, gentle Branza and wild Urdda, are safe from threat. But the membrane separating her new world from her old begins to rupture, bringing reality and old wounds to light, and healing.
Notes
- Dedication: For my sisters, Susi, Jude and Amanda.
Reviews
- Meg Rosoff in The Guardian found that "Tender Morsels, by the Australian author Margo Lanagan, is funny, tragic, wise, tender and beautifully written. It also left me gasping with shock."[1]
- Van Ikin in The Sydney Morning Herald argues that the novel is "a towering work of imagination in which a supremely talented writer opens rich new frontiers."[2]
Awards and nominations
- 2008 shortlisted Shirley Jackson Award — Novel
- 2008 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Fantasy Division — Best Novel
- 2009 winner Ditmar Award - Best Novel
- 2009 joint winner World Fantasy Award - Best Novel
- 2009 honour book Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
- 2009 finalist Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel
References
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- Little, Big by John Crowley (1982)
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- Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock / Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (1985)
- Song of Kali by Dan Simmons (1986)
- Perfume by Patrick Süskind (1987)
- Replay by Ken Grimwood (1988)
- Koko by Peter Straub (1989)
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- Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon (1992)
- Last Call by Tim Powers (1993)
- Glimpses by Lewis Shiner (1994)
- Towing Jehovah by James K. Morrow (1995)
- The Prestige by Christopher Priest (1996)
- Godmother Night by Rachel Pollack (1997)
- The Physiognomy by Jeffrey Ford (1998)
- The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich (1999)
- Thraxas by Martin Scott (2000)
- Declare by Tim Powers / Galveston by Sean Stewart (2001)
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- The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce / Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip (2003)
- Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (2004)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2005)
- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2006)
- Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe (2007)
- Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay (2008)
- The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford / Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (2009)
- The City & the City by China Miéville (2010)
- Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (2011)
- Osama by Lavie Tidhar (2012)
- Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (2013)
- A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar (2014)
- The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (2015)
- The Chimes by Anna Smaill (2016)
- The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North (2017)
- Jade City by Fonda Lee / The Changeling by Victor LaValle (2018)
- Witchmark by C. L. Polk (2019)
- Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (2020)
- Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (2021)
- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (2022)
- Saint Death's Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney (2023)