What's the best Angela Carter novel?

Question

I've heard she's pretty good, and pretty out there. I'm not sure which book (or books) I should pick up to introduce myself to her. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Hmm. Well I've only read three or four of hers, but The Passion of the New Eve was my favourite. It's absolutely bizarre, and not for the faint-hearted...

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Asker's Comment:

Thanks!

Answer 2

"The Magic Toy Shop"
I fell in love with a boy with a dirty neck - what a wonderful book!
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Toyshop-Ange…
"Angela Carter was a master of really weird magical realism. Her second book "The Magic Toyshop," is basically a forcible coming of age/first love story, wrapped in a fairy-tale ambience and exquisitely detailed writing, but it's hard not to be frustrated by the abrupt, bizarre finale.

Melanie and her two siblings are suddenly orphaned, and whisked away from the beautiful country house and idyllic life they've always known. Soon they're living in a slummy area of the city, with their brutish toymaker Uncle Philip, wraithlike mute Aunt Margaret, and her two brothers, in a house that is crammed with the magnificent toys that Uncle Philip creates.

Melanie finds herself increasingly drawn to her aunt's brother Finn, a feisty Irish boy who hides an artistic soul and a punk attitude -- and he and Philip are locked in a silent war. As the family tensions come to a climax, Melanie learns of a dark secret that Aunt Margaret is hiding, and which can only end in a horrific tragedy."