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For Dan, with love
Each of these modern stories is a variation (a very free one) on a much older tale.
The original fables are summarised at the end of the book.
Contents
1 Cover
2 Title Page
3 Copyright
4 Dedication
5 Author’s Note
6 Contents
7 ORPHEUS
8 ACTAEON
9 PSYCHE
10 PASIPHAE
11 JOSEPH
12 MARY MAGDALEN
13 TRISTAN
14 PIPER
15 The Fables
16 By the Same Author
17 About the Author
18 About the Publisher
LandmarksCoverFrontmatterStart of ContentBackmatter
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There was no forewarning.
She was in the park with her friend.
Every Wednesday they went, with their dogs. ‘What do you say to each other?’ he asked. She couldn’t answer. But he knew that they talked all the way round.
Once he went looking for them. There was something he was worried about. Something that couldn’t wait until she got back, at least that’s what he thought. He saw them coming towards him between the silver birches and she was talking, hands in the pockets of her old velvet coat, head down watching her feet, talking non-stop. When she looked up and saw him she waved, and after that it was her friend who was talking, looking at him, as she did so, in a way he thought rude. When they came up to him he explained about the thing. Was it the heating? He wanted her to hurry home with him, but she didn’t seem to care about it. She wasn’t a worrier the way he was. Sometimes he found her insouciance maddening.
Anyway, that was a while ago. But then she was out with her friend again and the earth cracked