It’s rare that a short story collection contains hit after hit, but every single story in this book was a brilliant read. This is the sort of book where you can tell every single sentence has been carefully crafted for maximum effect. The writing is beautiful and immersive, without ever being overwhelming.

📚Find this and other reviews on my blog!📚

My stand-out favourites were ‘Peach Cobbler’ and ‘How to Make Love to a Physicist’, closely followed by ‘Instructions for Married Christian Husbands’. They each had different writing styles, suited to the story they were telling, and created a story not just in what was said but also what was unsaid. Although the characters themselves may not be honest with us as the reader, we can still see the depths and nuances of everyone in this book.

While the stories may not be explicitly interconnected, and they each stand out distinctively from each other, there is still a strong sense of cohesion across the whole book. There isn’t one story that stands out as ‘different’ from the others; they all fit together without any Love Actually-style cross-pollination.

I had heard only good things about this collection prior to reading it, and I can confirm that everything I’ve heard is true. This is one of the best short story collections out there, and is a must-read.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a copy for review. All opinions are my own.