England and Other Stories

Many of the stories in this absorbing and well-written collection from Booker Prize winner Swift (Last Orders) touch upon bittersweet memories of older men, and even young men, looking back on past actions and emotions. In "Saint Peter," for instance, a man recalls the passing of his father, a vicar, and his mother's subsequent remarriage. In "Ajax," the narrator looks back on a neighbor who lived alone and was the subject of gossip, finally leaving the area under mysterious circumstances, and realizes how he himself might be perceived in this way. The title story relates the intersection of two disparate lives as a Coast Guard serviceman helps a Jamaican comedian whose car is disabled on a deserted stretch of road. Several stories are set in the 1600s and 1700s, as characters reflect on historic events in England and America, while others are more impressionistic, for example, one about a senile woman seeking medical help.