Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy. This is an excellent collection of connected short stories. Some will make you laugh, some will make you consider what you would do. A brilliant mix of fairy tale and real life, very happy to recommend on to all.

I believe this is one of the best short story collections I've read. The first story; 'The Void' just blew me away and honestly the standard was high through every single one! AND....the sheer variety of stories is outstanding. These stories evoked laughter, sadness, tension, reflection as well as being incredibly entertaining. As well as the stories standing on their own there are some beautifully woven threads throughout. I will be securing myself a copy so that I can enjoy a reread with a physical copy. Thank you so much for the advance reader copy netgalley and Transworld Publishing, what a joy!

An intriguing collection of eleven interconnected stories, which certainly do not conform the ‘normal rules’ of fiction writing. This is what makes this collection irresistible. Kate Atkinson is always able to suddenly throw a curved ball, along the way, as she delivers a mix of the banal and the fantastical, which delight and surprise the reader. The first story ‘The Void’ had me hooked, completely apocalyptic ….but then the other stories, with minor but deliberate echoes of the first, such as the smell of violets, takes the reader on a dizzying yet controlled whirl of romance, fantasy, the bizarre, the sad. Many feature Franklin, hapless in love and prosaic but making a fortune with a soap opera. There is a talking horse ( or is there?), a witch, or rather several….and so it goes! Yes, literary references are there to such as video games based on Austen for Middle Aged women. There’s enough here for two novels but one collection is a case of less is more. Stories work fine individually but together, are terrific. Loved this book Thank you to #NetGalley and #Transworld; Penguin Random House, for my ARC.

I’m not usually one for short stories but I love Kate Atkinson so gave these a go. These stories draw you in from the beginning - there’s a connection so even though the stories are stand alone these is a thread pulling them together. Can’t recommend enough.

Kate Atkinson is a marvellously gifted writer with the skill and imagination to make whatever she writes original, engrossing and fascinating. Such is the case in this collection of short stories which draw you in from the beginning and themes and characters reoccur throughout in this series of interconnected tales. The writing is lush and beautifully crafted with her sly humour and lyrical description of people, place and situations shining through.