**An extraordinary work of fiction, from one of the world's most exceptional writers.**A journalist visits an elderly painter and becomes intrigued by his young female companions. Four years' worth of book research is set on fire in front of a writer. A successful MP disappears without a trace.

**An extraordinary work of fiction, from one of the world's most exceptional writers.**A journalist visits an elderly painter and becomes intrigued by his young female companions. Four years' worth of book research is set on fire in front of a writer. A successful MP disappears without a trace.

Written with stylistic innovation, this sequence of novellas exploring the nature of art echoes the themes and preoccupations of Fowles' earlier work and cements his position as a master storyteller.

'Pick up any of these stories and you won't, as they say, be able to put it down'** Financial Times**