A fatal accident. A mysterious punctuation mark. An intrusive visitor. A sudden cardiac arrest: these are the various things and events that throw Hilary Mantel's characters off their life paths - sometimes for a short time, sometimes forever. What they have in common is that they cut deep into the flesh of existence. With an unfailing sense of balance between subtle suggestion and precisely placed shock effects, "the greatest English writer" (the Booker Prize jury) reveals the abysses over which life lies like a thin carpet. These witty, pointed stories told with deadpan humor are proof that the grandmaster of the lush historical novel is equally at home in the short form - and in the here and now.