Sun on the water & other stories

Sharp, funny and quietly moving stories about women, love, family, ageing and the strange turns that change a life.Sun on the Water & Other Stories brings together a collection of literary short stories set across Europe and beyond, from Lake Geneva and Paris to Spain, London, Washington and the Mediterranean.Sally Beall's characters are professors, widows, mothers, daughters, lovers, artists, travellers and survivors. A woman at Chillon Castle wants, finally, to be seen. A grandmother finds a message in a bottle and is pulled back toward an old love. A widow meets desire in the middle of an untidy party. A stranded editor shares an airport bridal suite with an Irish stranger. A woman buying flowers encounters the presence of the husband she has lost.These are stories of second chances, late-life romance, family fractures, grief, vanity, courage and unexpected comedy. Some are tender, some ironic, some dark, but all are interested in the private moment when a person sees the truth of their life and decides what to do next.For readers who enjoy character-driven literary fiction, women's fiction, bittersweet humour and short stories about relationships, memory and reinvention.