A Time To Dance and Other Stories

Beautifully turned stories full of humour, terse realism and moments of touching or shocking surprise.

“Nelson, with a patch over one eye, stood looking idly into Mothercare’s window. The sun was bright behind him and made a mirror out of the glass. He looked at his patch with distaste and felt it with his finger. The Elastoplast was rough and dry and he disliked the feel of it. Bracing himself for the pain, he ripped it off and let a yell out of him. A woman looked down at him curiously to see why he had made the noise, but by that time he had the patch in his pocket. He knew without looking that some of his eyebrow would be on it.”

Copyright © Bernard MacLaverty. Reproduced by permission of the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd., 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN

Bernard MacLaverty’s beautifully turned stories are full of humour, terse realism and moments of touching or shocking surprise.

Nelson plays truant and sees something he wishes he hadn’t in the title story, ‘A Time to Dance’.

In ‘Phonefun Limited’ Sadie and Agnes, retired prostitutes, hit upon an inventive new way of ‘making someone happy with a phone call’, while in ‘My Dear Palestrina’ a remarkable music teacher initiates her pupil onto the mysteries of art and maturity.

Contains:
‘Father and Son’
‘A Time to Dance’
‘My Dear Palestrina’
‘Life Drawing’
‘Phonefun Limited’
‘The Daily Woman’
‘No Joke’
‘The Beginnings of a Sin’
‘Eels’
‘Language, Truth and Lockjaw’

MacLaverty’s grasp of the psychology and culture of Northern Ireland in difficult times enriches our perspective of the region and the character of the life that was lived against that violent backdrop.