4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

There are a diverse set of plots in this collection, from a man still mourning the death of his brother all those years ago and trying to understand just what happened on that day. There is Peter showing a previous resident around the home that he has just bought with his boyfriend and that they are just starting to renovate. A man who is in between jobs is staying at an apartment in Rome and he is called upon to help after an earthquake strikes the region. Another story tells of a brief dalliance with another lady who was working at the same supermarket as him before they went their own separate ways in the world once again.

Set in all parts of the world, all of the stories have richly formed characters and there is enough detail of each of them for you to be able to grasp their backstory as they are thrust deep into the plot. They feel like real people too, not wildly implausible characters, doing real, mundane things and experiencing the joys and pains of life.

I thought that there were some really good stories in this collection of thirteen by Mort. They are not always cheerful, so if you are looking for something uplifting at the moment, others might be more appropriate. Three of my favourite stories were Saint Peter, Pepe’s and Oliva, which I thought was superb.

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