A. L. Kennedy — All The Rage

Jonathan Cape 2014 Hardback. The extraordinary title story takes place on a railway platform, with a couple waiting for a train that never comes, and opens out into the husband's shocking admission of years of deceit, and a devastating portrait of a failed marriage, a failed man. Another story shows a woman who is, in every sense, lost and who finds herself - to her bewilderment and alarm - walking the aisles of a sex emporium holding an electric penis. There is great compassion here, and deep, dark humour, but also a stronger sense than ever before that the emotional paralysis can be loosened - that an impossibly uncomfortable lunch, say, between two apparent strangers, can culminate in a passionate kiss. 'You do not know this man. He is practically a stranger. Only he's not. '. DJ. (ISBN: 9780224098434). Very Good.