Highly praised by leading critics on its first publication this collection of some of Fred Urquhart's most subtle and skilful stories depicts the lives of a variety of Scottish characters, at home and abroad. He deals with social class and inter-generational conflict, aspirations and disasters, the passing of time and memories of the past. Urquhart displays his profound understanding of the dreams and behaviour of his predominantly female characters, whether it be an admirer of a great Scottish novelist, trying to discover the truth about her heroine, or a young woman encountering the horror of the Peninsular War; a middle-aged entertainer reminiscing while searching for her reprobate daughter in Paris or a woman fated to wander back and forth across the Atlantic. Comedy and tragedy intermingle in these stories, and throughout Urquhart displays his remarkable ability to make his creations speak in a totally convincing way.Highly praised by leading critics on its first publication this collection of some of Fred Urquhart's most subtle and skilful stories depicts the lives of a variety of Scottish characters, at home and abroad. He deals with social class and inter-generational conflict, aspirations and disasters, the passing of time and memories of the past. Urquhart displays his profound understanding of the dreams and behaviour of his predominantly female characters, whether it be an admirer of a great Scottish novelist, trying to discover the truth about her heroine, or a young woman encountering the horror of the Peninsular War; a middle-aged entertainer reminiscing while searching for her reprobate daughter in Paris or a woman fated to wander back and forth across the Atlantic. Comedy and tragedy intermingle in these stories, and throughout Urquhart displays his remarkable ability to make his creations speak in a totally convincing way.

Fred Urquhart (1912-1995) was born in Edinburgh. He is best known as a superb short story writer. When he began to write it was the heyday of short story magazines, and this was the only obvious way to earn a living as an author. Colin Affleck,the editor and a fellow native of Edinburgh, became a friend of Fred Urquhart on the writer's return to Scotland in 1991 and, later, his literary executor. Among his writings on Urquhart is a study focussing on the short stories, which appeared in British Short-Fiction Writers,1945-1980 (edited by Dean Baldwin). Dr Affleck is now working on a biography of Urquhart.