A sparkling collection of short stories that entrance us with telling glimpses and powerful insights into people's lives. In so little precious time we feel we know these characters and what drives them – their secrets, their desires, their fears and their regrets: An art dealer tricked by opportunists during a buying trip to The Cameroon; The surreal life of an old woman who lives in a kitchen cupboard; A young man, camping by a river, drawn to follow a beautiful woman who swims past in the brightness of early morning, and a premiership footballer, reduced to a life of poverty and depression after a career-changing injury. Real people, caught in the author's spotlight or under his probing microscope.'Tales smouldering with intrigue, wit and cunning. We are drawn in by flashes of light, curious aromas, the tantalizing glow of embers, or the fizz and crackle of a roaring fire on a winter's night.' STORYTELLER