True North
by Sara Maitland
Comma Press, hardback £14.99

SARA MAITLAND has been described as a writer of religious fantasy, a magical realist and a bold interpreter of traditional fairy tales. She is all three, but these labels fail to capture the versatility, craft and depth of an author who has pushed the short story beyond its traditional limitations. 

True North is a collection of 16 tales selected by Maitland’s friends, co-workers and family members. It spans 40 years of her writing and highlights the potential of short fiction as a means of interrogating ideas, reflecting on moral dilemmas and making sense of human experience.

Four of the stories, developed through conversations with scientists, merge myth with cutting-edge research. The Beautiful Equation considers autism and the complex interaction of twins in the light of Dirac’s equation — the mathematical formulation that foreshadowed the discovery of anti-matter.