Think of England / Frederic Raphael

A kiss on the cheek -- A long story short -- Quixote shmixote -- Seniority -- Looking back -- The day franco came -- Ave arque vale -- Work in progress -- A parking guest -- The last time -- Portrait of a lady -- Standards -- To be a pilgrim -- Union jack development -- Bad books -- The old pro -- The people in euclid.

With settings ranging from smart London offices to remote country houses, from Cambridge in the early 1950s to a colony of voluntary artistic exiles in the South of Spain, and from High gate to Jamaica and the USA, this new collection from Frederic Raphael is as incisive, original and enjoyable as we would expect from the author of Oxbridge Blues and The Glittering Prizes. A young couple abandon the rat-race for a pastoral idyll in 'The People in Euclid', until a disturbing new presence imposes upon their happiness - reminding them of what they escaped from, and inextricably linking his life with theirs. In 'Union Jack Development', the sad tale of Antonia and Stewart - pieced together from letters and diary fragments left in a drawer - casts a sinister aura over the magical Jamaican holiday house.