A circus performer dreams of a life more ordinary. An artist’s model steps out of pose. An international stateswoman lets down her hair. And a young mother nurtures bloodlust.

The female protagonists of these short stories emerge from master artworks, newsreels, mother-in-law jokes, music videos… Whether setting out from Greenwich Village backstreets, Paris pavements or Home Counties lawns, they make their choices, weighing risk against opportunity, as they set about the messy business of becoming themselves.

By turns tender, playful, provocative and poignant, these are stories of people ready to disrupt, subvert, reinvent and transcend the boundaries of their worlds.
 
‘Exacting. Disturbing. Beautiful. A marvel of a collection.’
Alison MacLeod