The Loosening Skin

“The Loosening Skin is a sensuous, thought provoking meditation on love that deserves not only a second read, but a third as well. This book will cement Aliya Whiteley’s reputation as one of the finest of a new generation of weird fiction writers. More, please.”

HELEN MARSHALL, AUTHOR OF GIFTS FOR THE ONE WHO COMES AFTER

“Strange, confounding and satisfyingly original, Whiteley’s new novel is an exploration of relationships and the corrosive effect of time. A speculative enquiry into the meaning of freedom itself, The Loosening Skin will surprise and delight Whiteley’s existing readership and new fans equally. Above all, this is a book that will excite intense discussion.”

NINA ALLAN, AUTHOR OF THE RIFT AND THE RACE

“Aliya Whiteley’s fiction simultaneously scintillates with ideas, skips back and forth across genre boundaries with an ease and audacity that is glorious to behold, and retains such a sense of immediacy and emotional integrity that her readers are drawn into her worlds body and soul. She has the enviable ability to explore big ideas in the most intimate of settings, and to create wholly original realities that leap instantly from the page. For me, she is very much at the forefront of the new wave of UK genre writers.”

MARK MORRIS, AUTHOR OF TOADY, STITCH AND MANY MORE

“The Loosening Skin works as a quirky new weird thriller, but its triumph lies in the way Whiteley uses the metaphor of shedding skin to examine the tortured process of love and attachment.”

THE GUARDIAN

“Wow. Just wow… There’s something so easy about Whiteley’s prose despite constantly delivering a dense philosophical gut punch. Her characters are rich but mysterious, flawed and fascinating. The plot twists and turns, blindsiding the reader at every turn while feeling as though it could never really have gone any other way.

The Loosening Skin, for me, is what speculative fiction should be.”

BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY