A sensitive innocent, Hendrickje Stoffels escapes the harsh realities of her garrison home-town to take up a servant's role in Rembrandt's household. She soon becomes his lover and closest confidante, and plays witness to the highs and lows of the great artist's life. But Hendrickje is fated to discover the hypocrisy and greed of society in Amsterdam's Golden Age. In sensuous prose, Matton paints a powerful fictional portrai ...
These are the stories of the casualties of social and emotional struggle, who defy defeat with humour, resilience and inspiring faith in their dreams. The walking wounded. These are the stories of ordinary people. ...
'I am with you always, even unto the end of the world . . .' Peter Leigh is a missionary called to go on the journey of a lifetime. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Bea, he boards a flight for a remote and unfamiliar land, a place where the locals are hungry for the teachings of the Bible – his 'book of strange new things'. It is a quest that will challenge Peter's beliefs, his understanding of the limits of the ...
First published in 1965, The Millstone tells the story of Rosamund Stacey, who gets pregnant after a one night stand when she loses her virginity. An academic, Rosamund socialises in liberal, literary circles but has been secretly reserved about sex as well as feeling social guilt. When she discovers she is pregnant, she decides to keep the baby despite society's expectation for her to have an abortion as a single mother carrying an illegit ...
Lucca Montale, a 32-year-old Danish actress, is rushed into hospital after a motor accident. She is severely injured after a head-on collision with a lorry. Robert, the doctor responsible for treating her, is obliged to break the news that she may never see again. Robert and Lucca are both suffering the after-effects of love. He has sought refuge in controlled resignation since his divorce. She has rushed into dramatic, desperate acts. G ...
This collection of the best of Iain Crichton Smith's short fiction brings together not one but many voices, both public and private. Ranging from inner promptings towards self-discovery, through the unconscious comedy of everyday speech, to the rantings of near madness, these stories display the peaks of Smith's wry, surrealistic humour, and his confessional mode in re-telling the past. The longer stories, illustrative of Smith ...
