The purple swamp hen and other stories - Penelope Lively

'You are in the hands of a master' Daily Mail

'Thoughtful, intelligent and light of touch... Lively has the gift, rare and wonderful, of being able to peel back the layers one by one and set them before us, translucent and gleaming.' Sunday Telegraph

A dream house that is hiding something sinister; two women having lunch who share a husband; an old woman doing her weekly supermarket shop with a secret past that no one could guess; a couple who don't know each other at all even after fifteen years together; and, in the story from which this collection takes its name, a bird and a servant girl in ancient Pompeii who cannot converse, but share a perfect understanding.

In this new and varied collection of short stories, Penelope Lively shows that she remains a master of her craft, and one of our finest English writers.