Phantom Limb

'Mesmerising... the work of a writer possessed of a rare power and vision' Daily Telegraph One evening, Gillis - a young Scottish minister who technically doesn't believe in god - falls into a hole left by a recently dug up elm tree and discovers an ancient disembodied hand in the soil. He's about to rebury it when the hand... beckons to him. He spirits it back to his manse and gives it pen and paper, whereupon it begins to doodle scratchy and anarchic visions. Somewhere, in the hand's deep history, there lies a story of the Scottish reformation, of art and violence, and of its owner long since dead. But for Gillis, there lies only opportunity: to reinvent himself as a prophet, proclaim the hand a miracle and use it for reasons both sacred and profane... to impress his ex-girlfriend, and to lead himself and his country out of inertia and into a dynamic, glorious future.

Chris Kohler is from Glasgow, Scotland. His short stories have been published in 3AM, Egress, The Stinging Fly, The Moth, Gutter, Dark Mountain and Minor Literatures. He was shortlisted for the VS Pritchett Short Story Prize 2023. Phantom Limb is his debut novel.