Taking scarlet as a real colour Book

'Love, sex, betrayal, emptiness, fullness and pleasure' are the themes of this outstanding new collection of short stories from Irish writer Evelyn Conlon. Taut, bold and raw, they tackle the nature of power and control in personal relationships, confronting the tensions of today's Ireland through a combination of canny observation and wry, pointed humour. Speaking in tones of anger, tenderness and regret, Conlon's characters draw the reader deep into their emotional experience. A bereaved husband paints a tableau of his marriage, creating a haunting evocation of love transcending death; a pub conversation becomes a sweeping stream-of-consciousness exploration of sexuality, war and politics; a woman takes revenge on the catholic church by blackmailing priests. Hypocrisy is challenged at every level, with harsh truths and small wonders emerging from the ordinary lives of men and women, in these fine stories from a uniquely humane writer.