In the brilliant, action-packed, title story of this collection, Rose Tremain single-handedly renews our faith in the potential of the short story form. By writing a story in which - heaven forfend - something actually happens, she reclaims the form from those crafty vampires who try to hold it hostage. You know the type - those pallid, anemic 'writers', who hide behind the claim that the short story is all about the 'craft' of writing, even as they exsanguinate the form, bleeding it dry as they distract us with their pretty adjectives and limp, solipsistic navel-gazing. I don't want to exaggerate. This collection of stories is far from perfect. But the vigor and imagination that Tremain brings to her writing are a welcome development, and deserve to be acknowledged. This short collection hardly represents the final conquest of the forces of mediocrity that plague modern writing. But, in writing these vibrant stories, Tremain reminds us readers that we have a right to expect more from a short story than the anemic navel-gazing of a Deborah Eisenberg or Rick Moody character. In doing so, she puts a stake through the collective heart of the crafty vampires, and puts a major dent in their efforts to leech the life out of the short story form.A minor victory, perhaps, but a significant one, for which Rose Tremain deserves our acknowledgement and our thanks
An enjoyable collection of stories by Rose Tremain. In my opinion a bit mixed. High points - A Shooting Season and Autumn in Florida, both well judged and touching. There were a couple of other stories I found eiher a bit pretentious in tone or just not completely convincing, but there's nothing here that's not worth reading. I love most of her novels - it's just unfortunate that the two things I've read since I started using facebook haven't been as good. Read Restoration, Musicand Silence or Sacred Country if you are new to her work.
