by Jane Gardam
First published 2014
Jane Gardam presents a gallery of characters caught in moments that reveal their deepest truths. Her stories move from drawing rooms to foreign shores, following ordinary people as they navigate love, loss, and the unexpected turns that reshape their lives. A widow discovers secrets in her late husband's papers. Children observe the adult world with unforgiving clarity. Expatriates find themselves adrift between cultures they can never fully claim. Gardam writes with precision about the small betrayals and sudden recognitions that define human experience. Her characters face their circumstances with humor and resilience, even as they confront the gaps between who they thought they were and who they have become. These stories capture the comedy and sadness of daily existence, finding meaning in the details others might overlook.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, found-family, ordinary-people
476 pages · Hardcover · Europa Editions