Longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2011

Paying for friendship, angry knicker-flashing at ex-pats, gay cruising at a medieval carnival... not exactly what an outsider might expect of folks from the small towns of Ireland.

These short stories introduce us to a host of fascinating characters. Sometimes funny, occasionally grotesque, always poignant, these pieces paint a wonderfully unexpected portrait of a place and its people in a time of great change, each page unfolding a delicate or deliciously devious secret.