Discover Angela Carter's classic feminist retelling of favourite fairy tales woven in seductive, luminous storytelling.

Beauty is turned into a Beast, Little Red Riding's grandmother is stoned to death as a witch and, in the title story, a beautiful young pianist is swept into the world of a rich and sinister aristocrat, a man whose previous three wives have all died in mysterious circumstances.

From familiar fairy tales and legends – Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves – Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.

'Magnificent set pieces of fastidious sensuality' Ian McEwan

'A quirky, original, and baroque stylist' Margaret Atwood

With an introduction from award-winning short story writer Helen Simpson