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Stories
Picador
January 2012
On Sale: January 3, 2012
160 pages
ISBN: 1250003164
EAN: 9781250003164
Kindle: B005J4EXNW
Paperback / e-Book
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Fiction
One of Englandβs finest and most loved writers explores the uncomfortable and tragicomic gap between peopleβs public appearance and their private desires in two tender and surprising stories. In The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson, a recently bereaved widow finds interesting ways to supplement her income by performing as a patient for medical students, and renting out her spare room. Quiet, middle-class, and middle-aged, Mrs. Donaldson will soon discover that she rather enjoys role-play at the hospital, and the irregular and startling entertainment provided by her tenants. In The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes, a disappointed middle-aged mother dotes on her only son, Graham, who believes he must shield her from the truth. As Grahamβs double life becomes increasingly complicated, we realize how little he understands, not only of his own desires but also those of his mother. A master storyteller dissects a very English form of secrecy with two stories of the unexpected in otherwise apparently ordinary lives.
 Media BuzzAll Things Considered - January 14, 2012
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