The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories

''Lively remains a sublime storyteller'' Guardian on How It All Began

''More stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing of two about storytelling.'' The Times on How It All Began

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.