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We should always make time for short stories. Especially if they are written by Margo Lanagan. In ''Yellowcake'', a traveller boy uses three items to reunite an old man with his memories. A boy with a crippled foot watches his townfolk butcher a beautiful creature washed up in their harbour. Rapunzel gets a makeover in which things turn out differently. We find out how the Ferryman of the Dead became the Ferrywoman. And more. I don't want to say much more for fear of ruining it all for you.
They are unsettling stories, often uncanny, and dense. Like all good short stories, what they don't say matters as much as what they do. Gaps and pauses matter.
I am a ''big'' fan of Margo Lanagan and I loved these stories. Her ability to conjure an entire community, or relationship, or lifetime, with very few, often oblique, words is absolutely unparallelled. I love the way she combines homely detail with hints at the supernatural. Everything is earthy even when it's magic, and so, so believable. I get lost in the worlds she creates and sometimes it's quite difficult to wake myself up when I've finished reading. ''Yellowcake'' was no different.
Even so, if you're new to Lanagan, I wouldn't start with ''Yellowcake''. These stories are mysterious and their inner meanings are quite difficult to fathom. You'll still have questions when you get to the end. I would begin with [[Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan|Tender Morsels]] or [[The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan|The Brides of Rollrock Island]] and get used to her style through a full length story with a clear plot. But ''then'' you must read ''Yellowcake''. Because you shouldn't miss anything by Lanagan. She's interesting. She's original. She's a force of nature just like the forces of nature she writes about.