I only found out that the “supporting cast” protagonists of this short story collection were characters from Kit de Waal’s other novels when I got to the acknowledgements. Having not reading anything else by de Waal, at least she can be assured that these stories stand up on their own, and not just as addendum to her other work. All of the many voices are really well done in the collection, and I liked the folkloreish element to many of them. I’ll be following this up by seeking out more by de Waal I think.

I loved both of Kit de Waal’s novels I’ve read in the last few years and was delighted to find she is revisiting here some of the characters from these and giving us a taste of what the future holds for them. I was very moved by the back stories she gives us, too, and I’m thinking here particularly of the MacNaughton family who feature in several. She has such a talent for the short story form (and some are really very short indeed), conjuring up emotion and atmosphere quickly and forcefully. Highly recommended, though perhaps not before reading ‘My Name is Leon’ or ‘The Trick to Time’, both of which are terrific.

A beautiful collection of stories looking at love, loss, joy and grief. The eclectic cast of characters are bought to life in such vivid colours and even if their stories are brief at times, the depth of my feelings for them was as full as if I had known them all. An author who can provoke such vast and raw emotion from characters who we only meet briefly has a rare talent indeed.

This is an eclectic mix of short stories from the very talented Kit de Waal. Some are extremely short but they are thoughtful, incisive and encompass a whole range of human emotions. There’s a poignancy in quite a few stories which is very touching, for example, one story shows how a partner leaving can render you so low that you lose yourself entirely. There’s Sylvia on the bus to Leighton Buzzard to meet a solicitor to arrange a divorce whose random thoughts of a love gone sour made me smile but also sense how much she has lost. There’s a released prisoner whose only thought is a longing for his son, one story shows a brutal side of human nature, there’s a search for identity, disappointments in love, loneliness and so on. Quite a few look at the various ways that people grieve and respond to loss, one character questions the existence of God as she has lost so much, there’s sacrifice for the love of another but what unites them all is how beautifully they are written. They touch your heart and move you, some made me pause and reflect and I’m still thinking about one or two now. I really like that the group of stories ended with Big Tom Fallon’s wedding speech where he speaks of what he has lost but how much he has gained through the friendship of Paulie and the love of Marie, that is a beautiful way to end this wonderful experience.

With thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK and Kit de Waal.