It's always a pleasure reading William Boyd; you know where you are. There is a comfort and fluidity — he has not written anything bad. Surprisingly perhaps, this is the first collection of his short stories I've read — four others have been published — and they did not disappoint. Inevitably some were stronger than others; I particularly liked the longer ones: the title story and “The Vanishing Act” — but there was a commonality across the group. Boyd's preoccupation here, and arguably more generally, is about the role of fate and the consequences of impulsive decisions. We are all flawed, but that nonetheless defines us, makes us human. 9/10.
By William Boyd