Twenty four more remarkable short stories await you in this book – stories that you will never forget, or remember for a long time. Their secret is that each of them touches a string in your heart. Mythological or realistic, classical or modern, these tales will emerge unexpectedly in your mind to experience them again. Some of them will summon smiles, some will bring tears to your eyes, and others will make you want to be in love again.

A good short story… can stay with you for much longer than a novel. It can startle, ignite, illuminate and move in a way that the longer format cannot. It is often troubling, often frightening or subversive. It provokes questions, whereas most novels tend to try to answer them.

Joanne Harris