Valery the Great is a crackling, electric collection of dark humour that follows the bizarre and beautiful lives of its protagonists. Sometimes sweet and gentle, sometimes sharply sarcastic, the unique narrative voices in this collection are always powerfully touching.

Praise for Valery the Great:

"15 Finest Book Covers in Spring Fiction This Year" selection (Something Daily blog)

"By turns comic, pathetic, and tenderly tragic, Valery the Great is a charming collection." (Quill & Quire)

"Her voice is scathing, very funny, her stories twisting at the end to leave me a bit stunned. ... I loved this book, a short story collections whose curation had as much thought put into it as the stories themselves, a fantastic package with a gorgeous design. In addition to considerable talent, there is furious energy at work here, McCluskey giving it her all, and as a result, reading was a pleasure." (Pickle Me This, blog)

"McCluskey is at her finest when she uses sharp humour and skillful, economic description to communicate her fatalistic worldview." (The Globe and Mail)

Elaine McCluskey grew up in a boxing household. She is a former news editor and bureau chief of the Canadian Press in Halifax and has also worked as a reporter at CBC-TV and the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Her debut short story collection, The Watermelon Social, was shortlisted for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. Her fiction has been shortlisted for the Journey Prize and published in the Fiddlehead, the Antigonish Review, the Dalhousie Review, the Gaspereau Review and Room of One's Own.

Elaine McCluskey's profile page