Author:Susan Hill
In 'Sand', sisters Clara and Lizzie recall an extraordinary childhood trip to the beach with their surly mother who, coming across a wailing boy, had calmly handed him her handkerchief; the sacred relic which she kept in her purse at all times, and which had belonged to her beloved late father, which she had - until that moment - guarded with her life.
In 'Elizabeth', 'There's a world beyond yourself you must break through to,' Elizabeth's mother chides, lest her only daughter inherit her own ill-fate: doomed to scrape by on the bottom rung of society, married to a feckless man who would put his own sense of adventure before his wife's ill-health. Timid Elizabeth is initially terrified by the thought of leaving her insular existence, but when tragedy strikes her family, she resolves to follow her mother's advice and break free.
Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read.
Exquisite...these stories sparkle with the fire of real diamonds.
—— The TimesContemporary Indian fiction writers are among the finest in the world, and Desai at her best, as she is throughout this collection, has deservedly won her place alongside them.
—— Irish TimesUnsentimental, dazzling, funny and achingly sad.
—— Literary ReviewAll her stories are full of a confidence in human nature that is a rarity and a pleasure to encounter.
—— The SpectatorAnita Desai is one of the most brilliant and subtle writers ever to have described the meeting of eastern and western culture.
—— Alison LurieSpine-chilling twists and turns - Graham Greene eat your heart out
—— TatlerDarien Dogs is a bullishly confident and vivacious collection
—— Time OutBeautifully paced and pitched
—— IndependentThese stories are shored up with sentences and paragraphs that demand immediate re-reading for their cleverness and warmth…This party is well worth attending
—— IndependentThis collection shows a writer quietly growing in style, perception and grace. She conveys to the reader that rare ability to see completely into someone else’s head
—— SpectatorAccomplished ... confident
—— Sunday TimesThe ghost of Katherine Mansfield hovers lightly over these deceptively delicate snapshots which zero in on the much maligned territory of the domestic and make it new and vital again
—— Metro