Alice Thomas Ellis

Mary Marsh has lost her only child, but rather than allow her peace in which to grieve, her mother cajoles her into participating in a proper family Christmas. As the various guests arrive the house descends into farcical chaos.

Short stories offering an insight into the failures of communication and expectations between men and women.

A collection of the author's weekly columns written for The Spectator in which she airs her views on matters domestic of every variety, in town or in the country. Cookery and horticulture, the vagaries of children, neighbours, cats and appliances all acquire an elegance under her touch of pleasantly witty brevity.

Sequel to: 'The Clothes in the Wardrobe' (2435). Knowing her only son, Syl, is going to marry at last, old Mrs Munro is happy, until she finds that his fiancee, Margaret, hates Syl and has a secret horror in her past.

Lydia has retreated to her cottage in Wales to recover from her broken love affair with Finn. She is accompanied by the solicitous Betty. Together this incongruous pair set out to skirmish socially with the local community, but the boundaries keep shifting and the "unexplained laughter" comes from the woods beyond the walls of their refuge.