Perfect Lives
By Polly Samson
(Virago UK, Hardcover, 9781860499920, 240pp.)
Publication Date: January 2011
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback
Categories: Short Stories (single author), Literary
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In an English seaside town, lovers and children, young men and middle-aged women weave in and out of each other's lives and stories in this collection that is in turns rueful, knowing, witty, poignant, bashful, and bold. A mother is tormented by her daughter’s tattoo; another only pretends to love her baby. A wife stalks her husband and his new lover; a broken egg through a letterbox tells a story that will not go away; the cat thinks he knows best. Threaded throughout are longings for love and poignant disappointments, surprising pleasures and temptations. Some will fall but some, like the small boy at the circus who sees his babysitter fly past on a trapeze wearing little more than a blue bra and spangles, will retain their feeling of awe.
Polly Samson is the author of Lying in Bed and Out of the Picture. She cowrites lyrics with her husband David Gilmour for his band Pink Floyd.
"Dreamy evocative prose." —Entertainment Weekly "Her finely-wrought collection of eleven closely-linked stories . . . plumbs the depths of the human psyche, revealing insecurities, infidelities, and an enduring tenacious spirit, Samson's deft touch balances pathos, love, and humor, providing an absorbing look into very real contemporary lives." —Publishers Weekly
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