 | |
| Author | Margaret Atwood |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | short fiction |
| Publisher | McClelland & Stewart |
Publication date | 2014 |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7710-0680-7 |
Stone Mattress is a 2014 short fiction collection by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood. [1] Atwood describes the pieces in the collection as "tales" rather than short stories, as they draw from the mythical and fantastical aspects associated with fables and fairy tales, rather than from conventional literary realism. [1]
The nine tales in the collection are: [1]
"I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth" is a sequel story to Atwood's 1993 novel The Robber Bride . [2]
Sam Baker in The Independent writes "Retribution, strong women, otherworldly happenings – all the Atwood hallmarks are here. What’s new is Atwood’s fierce and fearless take on ageing. But the stars are the triptych of stories that open this collection. “Alphinland”, “Revenant” and “Dark Lady” centre around a distant love triangle from the vantage point of old age. Constance, now the wildly successful writer of the Alphinland fantasies, wreaks her revenge through her writing. Subtle? Maybe not. But they are, without exception, razor sharp, with Atwood’s gimlet eye for the ludicrousness of modern life: HDTV, video games and Twilight-esque vampires all come in for a pasting." [3]
On May 18, 2022, a film adaptation of Stone Mattress was announced with Julianne Moore and Sandra Oh set to star as Verna and Grace, respectively. Lynne Ramsay will direct from a screenplay she wrote with Tom Townend. StudioCanal, Film4 Productions, John Lesher and JoAnne Sellar will be producing the project, with Amazon Studios distributing in the United States. Filming is scheduled to begin in September 2022 in Greenland and Iceland. [4]
Margaret Eleanor Atwood is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published eighteen books of poetry, eighteen novels, eleven books of non-fiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children's books, two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Governor General's Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, Princess of Asturias Awards, and the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and television.
The Handmaid's Tale is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, white supremacist, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government. Offred is the central character and narrator and one of the "Handmaids", women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "Commanders", who are the ruling class in Gilead.
Margaret of Denmark was Queen of Scotland from 1469 to 1486 by marriage to King James III. She was the daughter of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and Dorothea of Brandenburg.
The Robber Bride is a Margaret Atwood novel first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1993.
Sandra Miju Oh is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Rita Wu in the HBO comedy series Arliss (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2005–2014), and Eve Polastri in the BBC America spy thriller series Killing Eve (2018–2022). She has received two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2019, Time magazine named Oh one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Lynne Ramsay is a Scottish film director, writer, producer, and cinematographer best known for the feature films Ratcatcher (1999), Morvern Callar (2002), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), and You Were Never Really Here (2017).
Verna Arline Felton was an American actress who provided voices for numerous Disney animated films.
A Hindu wedding, also known as Vivaha, Marathi: Lagna (लग्न), Bengali: Bibaho (বিবাহ) Kalyanam or Pelli, is the traditional wedding ceremony for Hindus. The wedding ceremonies are very colourful, and celebrations may extend for several days. The bride's and groom's home—entrance, doors, wall, floor, roof—are sometimes decorated with colors, flowers, and other decorations.
The Penelopiad is a novella by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was published in 2005 as part of the first set of books in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient myths. In The Penelopiad, Penelope reminisces on the events of the Odyssey, life in Hades, Odysseus, Helen of Troy, and her relationships with her parents. A Greek chorus of the twelve maids, who Odysseus believed were disloyal and whom Telemachus hanged, interrupt Penelope's narrative to express their view on events. The maids' interludes use a new genre each time, including a jump-rope rhyme, a lament, an idyll, a ballad, a lecture, a court trial and several types of songs.
Kongu Vellalar is a community found in the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu, India.
"The Robber Bridegroom" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 40. Joseph Jacobs included a variant, Mr Fox, in English Fairy Tales, but the original provenance is much older; Shakespeare alludes to the Mr. Fox variant in Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, Scene 1:
Maria Laskarina was a Greek Queen consort of Hungary by marriage to Béla IV of Hungary. She was the daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and Anna Komnena Angelina.
Black Widow is a 1987 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Bob Rafelson, from a screenplay by Ronald Bass. It stars Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey, and Nicol Williamson. Dennis Hopper has a short role at the beginning of the film.
Two Weeks with Love is a 1950 romantic musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Roy Rowland and based on story by John Larkin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dorothy Kingsley.
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing is a non-fiction work by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Cambridge University Press first published it in 2002.
On 6 July 1893, Prince George, Duke of York, and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck were married at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London, England.
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten took place on Thursday 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom. The bride was the elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth as well as the heir presumptive to the British throne. The groom was born a Greek and Danish prince; he stopped using these foreign titles on his adoption of British nationality four months before the announcement of their marriage and was made Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich on the morning of the wedding.
Alimony is a lost 1917 American silent drama film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Lois Wilson. An unknown Rudolph Valentino has a role as a supporting player.
John Lesher is an American film producer, best known for winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for the 2014 film Birdman.
Margaret Bane also called Clerk, was a Scottish midwife and prominent victim of The Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.