'Its combination of staccato sentences and tidy symbolism transforms the finest passages into little haikus of prose.'

– Daily Telegraph

'Incurable romantics will savour Simon Van Booy’s tender, Maupassant-like fables.'

– New York Times

'His stories are full of the most exquisite insights.'

– Patrick Cotter, Director of the Frank O’Connor Award

'Breathtaking. . .chillingly beautiful, like postcards from Eden... Van Booy’s stories are somehow like paintings the characters walk out of, and keep walking.'

– Los Angeles Times

'Van Booy is a master of the atmospheric scene written in lyrical prose.'

– The Short Review

'A first-rate storyteller'

– Newsday

'He shows an uncanny ability to create intense moods and emotions within the space of a few poetic paragraphs.'

– Booklist

'Each of these stories has moments of sheer loveliness.

– Publishers Weekly