'Jackie Kay's third collection of short stories ranks among the best' Guardian 'Hilarious ... heartbreaking' Observer 'Sheer joy ... The pleasure that Kay takes in observation, in dipping her imagination into the secrets of the secretive and the songs of the unsung, is infectious' Scotland on Sunday 'They glow with a quiet radiance, touched as they are by the warmth of their creator's heart' Spectator 'Invigorating and witty ... An observer whose eye for human frailty and courage is that of a portraitist who wants to show rather than tell' Sunday Herald

Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh. She is a poet, novelist and writer of short stories and has enjoyed great acclaim for her work for both adults and children. Her novel Trumpet won the Guardian Fiction Prize and is a modern classic. She has published three collections of stories with Picador, Why Don't You Stop Talking, Wish I Was Here and Reality, Reality. She teaches at Newcastle University, and lives in Manchester.