Author:Thomas Hardy
The Melancholy Hussar/ A Tragedy of Two Ambitions/ The First Countess of Wessex/ Barbara of the House of Grebe/ For Conscience' Sake/ The Son's Veto/ On the Western Circuit/ An Imaginative Woman/ A Changed Man/ Enter a Dragoon
The 11 short storiesin this collection range from those with the Wessex setting familiar from Hardy's novels, to aristocratic historical fantasies set in the 17th and 18th centuries, and tragic or ironic contemporary dramas. Enormously readable in their own right, thestories can also be seen as a rich testing ground for ideas and themes that receive more sustained treatment in Hardy's most innovative and controversial novels.
Steve Earle leans hard on his own tough experience as a junkie and jailbird to produce a series of gut-wrenching tales filled with humanity
—— Time OutDoghouse Roses is the real thing, a collection of spare, economical and truly compelling tales, as well-crafted as the songs, and just as moving. Earle takes risks; he cares about his characters, and he cares about language. "The Witness" is as well-paced and urgent as any story I have read in the past several years, and would certainly stand its ground alongside the established masters
—— ScotsmanHeartfelt, romantic, they are thoughtful and genuinely hardbitten. An impressive and engaging debut
—— Times Literary SupplementMeticulously crafted character studies that assess and re-assess the human condition...consolidates an already brilliant but tumultuous career. In keeping with another great chronicler of the American male, John Steinbeck
—— ObserverAmis applies his comic timing, his perfect pitch and his curatorial eye to some of the burning issues of our time
—— New York Times Book ReviewAlice Munro! Now that's writing
—— Margaret AtwoodThat Munro is a great writer of short stories should go without saying. She is also one of the two or three best writers of fiction (of any length) now alive
—— Sunday TimesThis superb collection...confirms Munro's place as the laureate of thwarted passion - and quite possibly the greatest short-story writer at work today
—— Daily Telegraph