The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories

<p><b>'Lively remains a sublime storyteller' <i>Guardian </i>on<i> How It All Began</i></b><br><br><b>'More stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing of two about storytelling.' <i>The Times</i> on </b><i><b>How It All Began</b> </i><br><br>A dream house that is hiding something sinister; two women having lunch who share a husband; an old woman doing her weekly supermarket shop with a secret past that no one could guess; a couple who don't know each other at all even after fifteen years together; and, in the story from which this collection takes its name, a bird and a servant girl in ancient Pompeii who cannot converse, but share a perfect understanding. <br><br>In this new and varied collection of short stories, Penelope Lively shows that she remains a master of her craft, and one of our finest English writers.</p> <p><b>'Lively remains a sublime storyteller' <i>Guardian </i>on<i> How It All Began</i></b><br><br><b>'More stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing of two about storytelling.' <i>The Times</i> on </b><i><b>How It All Began</b> </i><br><br>A dream house that is hiding something sinister; two women having lunch who share a husband; an old woman doing her weekly supermarket shop with a secret past that no one could guess; a couple who don't know each other at all even after fifteen years together; and, in the story from which this collection takes its name, a bird and a servant girl in ancient Pompeii who cannot converse, but share a perfect understanding. <br><br>In this new and varied collection of short stories, Penelope Lively shows that she remains a master of her craft, and one of our finest English writers.</p>