Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Bride Price
The Bride Price
The Bride Price
Ebook363 pages4 hours

The Bride Price

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

"The prolific Sparks has won numerous Aurealis and Ditmar awards in her native Australia. This debut collection of 13 stories, two of which appear for the first time here, will give readers an idea why. Sparks sets the tone early with “A Lady of Adestan,” whose protagonist must rescue her sister from the abusive noble family into which she married. Themes of abuse (particularly by men), disappointment, and struggle abound; even those men who at first glance seem desirable often turn out, like obsession object Tom in “The Sleeping and Dead,” to be unworthy of regard. Desperate refugees in “Arctica” are met with fatal beatings, while even the protection offered by wealthier patrons in “Seventeen” proves all too temporary once the weak have outlived their usefulness. Sparks’s prose is clean and clear, her visions of futures consistent and grim; although there are moments of hope, these too often prove phantasms. Readers looking for random acts of kindness would do well to look elsewhere; fans of beautifully staged scenes of despair will find a wealth of them here."
-Publishers Weekly

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 4, 2013
ISBN9781921857447
The Bride Price
Author

Cat Sparks

Cat Sparks is a multi-award-winning Australian author, editor, and artist whose former employment has included: media monitor, political and archaeological photographer, graphic designer and manager of Agog! Press amongst other (much less interesting) things. She’s currently fiction editor of Cosmos Magazine while simultaneously grappling with a PhD on YA climate fiction.

Read more from Cat Sparks

Related to The Bride Price

Related ebooks

Science Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Bride Price

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Bride Price - Cat Sparks

    Zcbook_preview_excerpt.html}ێ$EH[ e̞ UMP{AtZt:NkV9 u2.Tŧ'WXF6TԐWVջk_m^MϦx >6T%ؖ~ŗhMӦa?* æ0BLBb#_PG܎iD85;xP}cAUG(~3]Wo|5>olkߴ[vFYp]M(ʹKhqhPW[, 3L]{?쮿}=d_P^_.2O0C|7y,~ od O0Ц/{.\ͫbǾ17*Rp>!%H\ cyz_'3@wC{Zݿzw/ś^-BY{Uo_?~ >Sp#hRAZ)j$ 80G=_F"]|I `xj`5,F3t^DZ/oD/U7o0 MX)8 Sgx 4"4G^{'|UXꛍ!9m4-|nQ*`pNFcY[}.}0OpihRw݇GHQ(\Xd2>hzc@c=l` iX[[K"L)T&?|+[>/&jh]]=}cn:te$c>D"(0dhc&zXg}r gp?rѵϨuǾ)q#PXN/DVwc٪dWUu jt943-XT!zKra8;vLXV=VY 2"ypi'}9Ck_s9V#eA5OU"]mz*a^k“at jx`kФ|yPʰ2R!i'cKN-$w-֕ doVȣNX3ahwk1BH? 4'{8f $WǛ] %y޶gVCIm.DUuEqr2OF8gWFnW+ۅ Jq?-[.  a55^&nQa:|Wmbxhђq,R[*`FAC'?gwaZPͷ0,r|Z)e?KWo!TBͷR5|m p;$a7i$kkݣDXޔ\NjWU(@rtepSHe%fjzo)x*Y-_!04.F=aPD`ȷY $Y>`Z&MAz`N%bIȼa;F9hSp,աfiLqz1w >jO@c=";^39tC_! av`T E~ iCN$y!LzOWo"Ϙ|0G|(z:"1H93b738v*`{L)8@0ʱk@lw\ Qd$nnHa%H+]XZb<IHbѶ `afxw8'P Zws$֜H&BG(G\}n4-ˮ1w1 J"6JrbB%̮2̖cwtɮU?"MУh0A f:3aH IlǹׁΏbX)gA=`uTf϶!&̈s  L'ǰyU"N;|ONi&sE8i"ăr->cIp-alEgގl  9V##}bU(CV %yˤ=qe&E!1)1?DjƇ${p4“4h@~@ \i<IG* gsF&iڈ%qŔcQ$'X=oR4Cȍ̉@# ^05qܕFh s [v-fqVWwki;%%pD2TvEhe?`bD2 e.#'-%9 !F. cX!1Ӎ+' 6h%<5^V5،i;&\Jn-(#mQ&S+|&7yNՖ@V*]Èsj0x] {Ó|!;!HC`x I]Jډ: KITM3M]N0!B l rϚ NR˵7WMJ~?͐?\e} }2"`4"EM7~R䳜0x]rXoج>Hj).C;s}!5?.B1S£|H~Ucw8쀏IL.1\sпIa|=| Ta$|RHib`ڡ*`mz[3۰kE|]1kHuSJф"2B:? KXϿ&uq,K#':+Eϙwl{D͒x=Vs$dG8ŐcPY>M­$}3i t OL!}WQg˔[dP{!Q6Vq/ޤɫ0a*D7n)%D;L]-9AyC0U"a呺oeJGC[V§FyVIMLq&H|֐xfeS:@hGkk-9HR;k*B8h!j2آH:=lF9:2lVGdI XH"PlXy'P1;_%Qa`Ӳ>uu]fc(~sEsJ ifVLlTvf&U+vD|8㻶[ި=b'y}|UK:gd/%=T!w_HK E%{HT-6$$y2ARJ%&Syc.S }7s4xߛkdq62oEɫ[8눱ũspusYy W*DL:jUx]M1 *gAdx!',X$`J3 S@" ]w54#9\x:~9OHm&j +S;^P. vXɀjgx,Hm \ˊ`OZl#϶)}L j3z̽!Rk`-裫Xd赊L iTLnu$)fDeeXL#bzx6 w'cF3x9QyDx6L: R1e\uښ ׫p@uȳљyZkrpo; :j-tLAϳ4,~q"Rqc]nLn/_rl֐ErWP65FË0.=N@V0FhZ@E *ŗsVl5n (bĊPδ;}^ԙqu+χي^Rƫf-.?^">Q-a\CAFoWw%ӱ?['@ŏ2Opr \wx[ !cEeJ=h..La(*2݃gHu|ŽD{no2DJ0AFCgZa6&Wj֐/碕/2uO՟s4q vdiXb;$BbD!2i9);c@觮??3I0#kk,s/:*%*Y'rd^dJl5,nP gTSQu~5 ?tǬ% ˛uxpحen)be,w)U47}V7 aTzO<5hCD֮;ߛ!R jðQ)&g}7Qj)lF+L%I)cʃbNa_l wƞ 8'Bݣ'1l|䷈v~mz?"mK͵8bCj?)qp#JbXRZU3*~b2d{! Mfn+XWJFB`S,AU7vk%Yo[^;AMBA+S\=Ѯ -Vg_9J4G!7:Y]Dx<ϐ@mCt0wHzL!mL+ItnDzݞ Wi| 4:΃?PsaiƄ)%-S'.#""eNՀ#WdtWPUvuB- ŭ2llԠ|2aJ<~%е`ng*[ϲmbZ Ђ51O*;'a&yG<ޚ(Gp\4DcE.wj@/0wrp4.Eh özWM}f.@4g-e!iO Yt`RWrI .!!W,9YM޾ +N4i+N.Pn.S}G[a i!U2+|t}|/c12@牓SSJWgCmj4!ʃc~ -R8Uiы uf6Tue*;M&IeUZ:_T?רy}gd;GleE󌁆vlWvWcE/8Y d]Еf'.'[sj;RfiZWȦxjܩ,T9P`ڹ[(g$,-U9@[ 3t(|k: ̾2f3VRy`WkӠm㡗vؙwM1CUi̿6,lx6.hyM ) {kka~RI Eouawd'Jbm9BmmdUZފ 5Z5wg ڝ[%W[F˽l<ӷW潿R D8^4Eڧesq'6)|6X33 lRil`dk 7)H>ȒycQL*qO':\}{-@=~b|2ľllǚh=1e6KӖ,c?n]1?M5<\m=s;/U ! 9KTxt)|7iKze}p^VK0_r3X ARVqva {%78IpUnV唑eF5nj ݼс,] _Il H'-1.^;0B7 ?s޷#ZV1梶v,_y .36F{=og":mL,I"{9Dݒ!T! >Z4'ed8/L[ o] VKW^;^%KCB;ZC(`p?/khdVt|}TC ;ϻ7n]^HjSXmv$4K촗Mn;p(Y9w[Ԅ7_$#9.pnrC_SL`DD?>AT#ZTS-_HEZtt6\mvlI'g+{ $f;TU C7}mQl9ZJYl37<|n;TqpKqg ̱9ދǔ6S{'/F^G2'B=9i  vQ,yc}mHgX_Ɍ)ԙt2DŐs#ꐎiK饓lpLsF5j%XX%9KKDhFBTRt|3W1J^ ,ґeÊy kIߐׂz Kn-$<%{ L[|9'3oua֛yǰdؒoO~SHgZ#0ba;mϵ:b¤ R1=e+j'nx"û¶߬ʻun٧kjG71-ԾR|5y9Xuw40X,f@#ʜܒğ{Fx:-r@2(,EZ-:m vkς<[ǪybtK1yBB} c{*8:*UWe$:݅a\j3VN_Vk'NpYz^ xQU69ks4u$S]Wкy>5~t]@mN|i]̃mC#Ca٨V6ӇUP)13qD*6o.ُޒ%?3P+ۑ$a0-JQ(zan*Zp kv;pO唨u>Bv܌@l\|lu]汽B+t;qPܤӾۅCkjti2IԨ?`j{U -Dʨvv[;66P?˴z3l4-騅BDVC^Nxd9']qꥴC{ ݸw>nqSWyo}&GK9(x"գ R1$3CDsRuu+ojոld}b,o {hD{^X7޻>@mivxM2QCgN/rَ,K#} lc&jZlO_ b6T_(~d`'cVm09{BJ{Id]2sb҄ 'H50mm v3O˫7[ g̱DnknЀ2›AѲ"|=ȵċ ^myJk,W$J>n5x *Ս\v۟6;caQӷ69Cb.խ0<=\eZx=)eAAp"W]VZ*HQgp4UCki<뜫];/T% W_vaW2iO C:f\=wqH+!|1ӂxr D~+g5Gv^: [WgTfIě.ݶ cLJ~8]S7zNh<9$:^4ϝʵŒ,wTwFXw.`DhMPl CvP:t˜hh7Iz#ƚ󳿚t|\7^y<ņ8yT8򼻥Ӷ6@5YlT9#:ǭ_.; gU~$=8ŽTF[Yv'6,ԄZܴ! Uk}}ᰍo1,y,7H4&L~^?_R&o F;xoLx,N-0Kթ:' [{nH(I+m¹'yRInN lWz!!_[<'ԔsMd'S*EG̱#9LT3%?[IFZw_3 r
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1