A man who can evoke no feeling over his wife's desertion is finally moved to tears of grief over a dying fox; a young boy is uncannily drawn in a devastating depiction of the misdirection of love; and a soldier, recuprating from wounds and shock, finds himself drawn to the elderly woman who has taken him in, despite the looming presence of her rather fussy country draper husband.

The characters in Barker's compelling stories are linked by the profound nature of their emotional ties; her depiction of love and of the complexity of human emotion is second to none. Another startling, assured short story collection from a compelling writer of incredible grace and assurance.