Urban Creatures

Sarah Gray's third short story collection moves between the disquieting, the dreamlike and the frightening, with a streak of dark humour running through every piece. Her characters are caught in the grind of city life, where survival can turn people into something close to animals. They crave affection, dread boredom and chase success, and the battle they fight is one they cannot win.

The collection follows a range of urban figures. A psychotherapier who feeds on other people's tragedies sits alongside a grieving father who is hunting for the lost soul of his daughter. Across these stories, the hidden secrets and shameful truths that people bury beneath everyday life are dragged into the open.