Machines of Another Era

By Bess Winter,

Book cover of Machines of Another Era

Book description

"Opening these pages is like stepping through a secret doorway to discover a menagerie of wonders, impossibly beautiful. There are sentences here so fine, so perfectly worded, they made me gasp. Unsettling, mysterious, slightly subversive, deeply moving, these stories are small punches to the heart. Though collectively they feel huge,…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Machines of Another Era as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Bess Winter’s book is a dazzling debut collection. It is full of exactly the kind of offbeat, formally experimental, historically informed short fiction I love to read, with a wicked sense of humor.

Thomas Edison’s mythical cache of discarded talking dolls provides the basis for exploring Edison’s West Orange female factory workers’ lack of agency. Claire Clairmont (Mary Shelley’s stepsister!) is given a chance to shine as a writer in her own right, redefined by something more lasting than her ill-fated trysts with Lord Byron. Hashish candy causes an uproar outside a small-town pharmacy. A little girl at sleepaway horse…

Want books like Machines of Another Era?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Machines of Another Era.

Browse books like Machines of Another Era

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Canada, Lord Byron, and film?

Canada 443 books
Lord Byron 19 books
Film 237 books