"Imagine St Valentine's Day in graphite; hand in hand through a Cyrillic alphabet over the Vltava. Love in black and white. Blinding winter light and eye-brightening air. Dark stone sinking under the city to buried secrets and rising in a thicket of spires. Bone-coloured skies meeting snowy cobbles like cold potatoes. The stark castle on the hill. The deep chill of the oubliette. The echo of the voice of Kafka. Sugared heat in Styrofoam. The smile of a marionette."

Three beautiful short stories - Christmas Lantern, Prague in February and August 28 - by Francine Elena, whose writing has also appeared in 'The Best of British Poetry 2013' (Salt), 3:AM Magazine, 'Par Avion' (3:AM Press), Clinic, Poems in Which, Art Wednesday and The London Literary Project. Her stories reveal an arresting and original new voice, whose elegance and imagination will delight readers.