Veronica Grove

Why have urban foxes died in posh Veronica Grove? What is the secret of the run-down hotel with its creaking ceiling fans and unpredictable showers in magical Senegal? Who is the unlikely hero in the National Gallery? Why is an actor up before the magistrates in Chelsea?

Ivor Rawlinson’s second collection of short stories covers the comedy, absurdities and sadnesses of our post-pandemic world. The characters constantly surprise – an Indian astro-physicist, a student of artificial intelligence delivering pizzas, a wily garage mechanic in France, an informer in cold-war Poland.

Infused with gentle humour, these ten-minute reads are just right for the train or the bedside table. Allow yourself to be whisked away to Florence or Warsaw or a village in the vineyards of France. Smile or laugh aloud at the ten stories set in London, in streets like Veronica Grove.