This collection of eleven stories won the Frank O'Connor Award. It's a collection that's packed full of 'the sad and the stranded, the hopeful and the lovelorn'. In 'Shovel Kings' Rafferty reminisces about coming over to England as a boy. When he is offered a chance to return to Ireland, he can't contain his joy, but he quickly discovers that although nothing is wrong at home, nothing is right either. In 'Sinners' embittered guest house owner Delia, a woman who likes to be 'always in the right,' regards a visiting family with suspicion and in 'Madame Cassandra' O'Brien provides the reader with an opportunity to read the thoughts of a lonely wife. These stories are full of hurt, yet they are also measured and lyrical. Man Booker International Prize winner Alice Munro maintains that, 'Edna O'Brien writes the most beautiful, aching stories of any writer, anywhere.'Read about O'Brien and listen to story extracts here.
Read a review here and here.
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