Admirers of Brian Friel's drama will find in these stories ('Foundry House' and 'The Diviner') prefigurations of some of his greatest plays (Aristocrats and Faith Healer) and will note that his first fictions found expression in short story form.

Each of these stories is set in the north western counties of Ireland and deals with the everyday faiths and hopes which help their characters to survive. In many of them there is makebelieve and illusion, the necessary self-deceptions which enhance memory. In all of them there is humour, resilience and dignity. They are told with the tact of a master.

'A fine book, full of unobtrusive excellences.'
                                                                — Robert Nye, The Guardian

'Perfect marriages of dialogue, detail and atmosphere.'
                                                                             — D.E.S. Maxwell