A masterful collection of short stories from the prize-winning and bestselling Rose Tremain.

Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American for whom Edward Vlll abdicated the throne, is on her deathbed in her Paris flat, closely guarded by her lawyer who will not allow her any visitors.

A masterful collection of short stories from the prize-winning and bestselling Rose Tremain.

Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American for whom Edward Vlll abdicated the throne, is on her deathbed in her Paris flat, closely guarded by her lawyer who will not allow her any visitors. An East German border guard, redundant after the fall of the Berlin Wall, tries to reach Russia by bicycling across the hostile wastes of Poland.A jilted man gets his revenge. A baby grows wings. A character in an Impressionist painting escapes from his ‘frame’ – or does he?

‘Moving and tragic... The darkness of Rose Tremain is never far from the surface in this brilliantly written short story collection’ Daily Express

‘Classic, breathtaking Tremain’ Independent on Sunday, Books of the Year

‘Mordantly perceptive tales’ Sunday Times