A Strange Life : Selected Essays of Louisa May Alcott

‘Ways of Telling isn't like any other book. Is it social reportage, the eye at the keyhole, the ear at the door? It is its own thing.’ Margaret Atwood‘I couldn’t love it more. After the very first story I had a huge wide grin on my face. More more more! Every single story could be an award-winning short film. I love, love, love it.’ Carey Mulligan‘An extraordinary book. Xandra Bingley's darting, curious eyes miss nothing and we follow them with her at a headlong speed. I wish I could write like that.’ Harriet Walter‘Fractured, haunting, intimate and totally original, Ways of Telling knocked the breath out of me. It’s dangerously exact, wilfully ambitious, wild in its scope and perfect in its precision.’ Olivia Laing‘The pieces in this book are just the right size to blow one’s mind in a train or on a tram: they have a most unusual delicacy, wit and freshness, and their physical world is powerfully seductive.’ Helen GarnerFrom the bestselling author of Bertie, May & Mrs Fish comes a remarkable collection of stories. As a bystander at Princess Diana’s funeral, a fan at a James Brown concert, a passenger on a Welsh bus and a patient in a hectic hospital, Xandra Bingley’s vivid portraits of everyday experience remind us of the fleeting and mysterious transience of life.