Nicholas Shakespeare’s collected stories take us around the globe and into the intimate lives of his characters and the dilemmas and temptations they face.

The opening novella, ‘Oddfellows’, tells the little-known history of the only enemy attack on Australian soil during the Great War, when, in January 1915, the outback town of Broken Hill was rocked by horrifying events.

From this dramatic First World War encounter, we are taken to the faded glamour of 1960s Bombay, to a Bolivian mining town in 1908 where civic folly is running amok, and to an Argentinian farm presided over by a former air stewardess and her husband.

Across ocean and continents, these are stories of connection and disconnection, misunderstanding and missed opportunities, identity and displacement.

One of the best English novelists of our time -- Alan Massie * Wall Street Journal *
One of our best and truest novelists * The Times *
Eight nuggets of pure, bold storytelling -- Holly Kyte * Sunday Telegraph *
In each story Shakespeare brilliantly transports us to other places, times, cultures and communities, but for all their differentness and exotic heat and dust, in essence they are places we know only too well -- Katie Law * Evening Standard *
Shakespeare captures this historical moment beautifully and in elegant prose...It's a fascinating story... skilfully told. It is also timely. Because the story Shakespeare tells resonates so deeply with current tensions it is weightier than its length might suggest. * Praise for the story 'Oddfellows', The Saturday Paper *
A tremendous and captivating writer * The Independent *
He tells a story like an angel * The Observer *
A world writer * Sunday Herald *
Nicholas Shakespeare is one of those writers who can do anything * Sydney Morning Herald *
A master craftsman * Los Angeles Times *

Nicholas Shakespeare was born in 1957. The son of a diplomat, much of his youth was spent in the Far East and South America. His books have been translated into 20 languages. They include The Vision of Elena Silves (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), Snowleg, The Dancer Upstairs, Secrets of the Sea, Inheritance and Priscilla. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He currently lives in Oxford.