Good Women

Description

'Stevenson's attention to language and her sharp eye for detail make these witty, modern, cautionary tales a real pleasure to read' - Glasgow Herald Jane Stevenson arrived on the British literary scene with a book called Several Deceptions. A collection of four novellas, it was unashamedly erudite, marvellously witty and just a little bit cruel. It revived a neglected form quite brilliantly. Now, after four acclaimed novels, she returns with another sparkling novella collection. In 'Light My Fire' a passionate relationship cannot withstand a clash of tastes and an ancient Aga; a housewife's life is transformed when she starts to see angels in 'Walking with Angels'; and 'Garden Guerillas' follows a widow plotting an elaborate horticultural revenge on her daughter-in-law. Despite being framed by domesticity, these stories are wickedly potent and each has a string in its tale.

Jane Stevenson is the author of a collection of novellas, Several Deceptions, and four novels, London Bridges, Astraea, The Pretender and The Empress of the Last Days. She is reader in English at the University of Aberdeen.

Stevenson is such a fine writer: sinewy and erudite, dark and funny... I loved this book and if it doesn't find its way into an awful lot of suitcases this summer, there is no justice -- Rachel Cooke * Observer * Jane Stevenson writes with easy and erudite fluency, perceptive candour and scalpel-like precision. Her characters are sexy, articulate and persuasive * Independent on Sunday * At around 70 pages a pop, a Stevenson novella is the perfect literary form for our attention-deficient era: short enough to span a couple of journeys into work or a pair of bedtimes, yet as satisfying emotionally as many fictions five times the length, and with a tension and humour nourished by their concision. Elegant and cool, Stevenson's prose remains a wonderful thing, as efficient and unobtrusive as glass * Independent * Utterly beguiling novellas...this is literary fiction as pure entertainment * Daily Mail * Acutely observed, funny and warm * Scotland on Sunday *