The Old Knowledge by Rosalie Parker

Trade Paperback. This first collection of tales by Rosalie Parker contains eight stories that explore the uncanny in the modern world. As Glen Cavaliero observes in his introduction, 'like all good stories of the preternatural, these in The Old Knowledge have a subversive effect.' In them, 'the world of logical, predictable reality is seen to be at risk from rejected modes of knowledge which can thwart the materialist and victimise those innocents who stumble into another order of reality.' In 'The Rain', Geraldine heads to the North for a holiday she hopes will provide a welcome break from her busy city life, only to suffer a complicated and enigmatic distortion of her usual world-view. The narrator of 'In the Garden' strays into new pastures while explaining her theory of gardening. In 'Chanctonbury Ring', the well-meaning protagonist, helping a lady in distress, gets rather more than he bargained for. The temporary schoolteacher in 'The Supply-Teacher' elicits altruism from her clas