Clyde, protagonist of the title story, is a superannuated vampire mistaken for a “small, kindly Italian grandfather.” He sits, surrounded by tourists, and watches lemons being harvested in Sorrento. With the exception of the extraordinary “Proving Up,” which hovers on a slender cusp that separates the supernatural from the mundane, all the stories here are firmly rooted in the fantastic. “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” earns out on this promise: Two of these tales are among the best and most chilling I’ve read in years. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” helped garner her the prestigious “5 Under 35” award from the National Book Foundation, and its follow-up, the novel “ Swamplandia!,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 (the year the board made the controversial decision to present no award for fiction). Not that there was ever much doubt about that. Karen Russell’s third book, the story collection “ Vampires in the Lemon Grove,” should cement her reputation as one of the most remarkable fantasists writing today.
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