Ten substantial short stories capturing a wide range of female (and occasionally male) preoccupations and self-deceptions. A recurring theme in the stories is time, but the tone ranges widely from fearful experiences to emotional confusion to tenderness and humour.

Deg stori fer sylweddol yn cynnwys rhychwant eang o'r hyn sy'n dal sylw neu'n twyllo benywod (a dynion weithiau). Thema gyson yw amser, ond mae'r cynnwys yn amrywio o brofiadau ofnus i ddryswch emosiynol, a thynerwch a hiwmor.

Ten substantial short stories from the author of Accidents in the Home capture a wide range of female (and occasionally male) preoccupations and self-deceptions. In all the stories the reader also becomes aware of the powerful, inhuman presence of Time: the enemy, changing and stealing what had been familiar.

Several of the protagonists are women facing the thought that 'there would be a last time ... to make love’ but ‘not yet, not quite’. Independent women who had rejected domesticity re-evaluate earlier patterns of femininity. Sensible, secure lives are shown to contain brief encounters of explosive wildness which are sometimes a desperate grab at experience before it is too late.

The tone ranges widely from the fearful experience of ‘Buckets of Blood’ and the emotional confusion of ‘Phosphorescence’ to the tenderness of ‘Matrilineal’ and ‘The Eggy Stone’. In ‘The Eggy Stone’ the author recreates the mysterious world of very early childhood friendship. Tessa Hadley powerfully evokes its rituals and sensations in a perfectly self-contained piece. In many of the stories we feel the closeness, and the limits, of female relationships. ‘A Card Trick’ is, perhaps, less tightly focused than the others and the title story finishes with the abruptness of a cold shower, but the author has a great capacity for getting inside the skin and the dreams of her characters. I imagine that many of her readers (especially the female ones) will be startled by moments of humorous or uncomfortable recognition.

Caroline Clark

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.