In prose that sparkles with wit, shocks with insight, and beguiles with the air of legend, these seven stories take the reader from post-apocalyptic Tasmania to the tragedy of surrogate pregnancy in the 1950s. Loss of species, the whims of publishers, the question of Islam in regional Australia - these are among the subjects Carmel Bird addresses in her characteristic probing style.

'Carmel Bird's stories are dark, intriguing and yet always delightful.'

Andy Griffiths

'As you'd expect, Bird's beautiful stories soar, though never into a realm you could anticipate. '

Debra Adelaide

'Bird is the best living short story writer in the country.'

Matthew Condon

CARMEL BIRD is the 2016 winner of the Patrick White Literary Award. Carmel's work spans forty years, and she has published thirty-eight books. Her most recent collection, published in 2015, is My Hearts Are Your Hearts, and the most recent of her eleven novels is Field of Poppies, published in 2019.