In this dazzling collection of short stories, Fiona Cooper turns her witty gaze on a kaleidoscopic mix of characters. Here are wronged lovers and passionate dreamers; dole-queue heroes and French Resistance heroines; children taking faltering steps in a chaotic world, and waltzing grannies: religious fanatics, true believers, painters and penguins. Interspersed with the joyously whimsical are tales that turn a searchlight on our deepest hopes and...