A beautiful collection - charming, witty and touching - these stories give voice to a variety of different characters: from the little girl who wants to look 'subtle' for her father's funeral, a child who has an email pen pal on Jupiter and an old lady who becomes a star through 'zimmerobics'.Often writing in a vibrant Glaswegian vernacular, Donovan deftly gives her characters authenticity with a searing power, aided and abetted by tender subtlety.
“Spellbinding stories of childhood and change in voices so vibrant they leave you speechless.” —Sunday Herald From a little girl who wants to look “subtle” for her father's funeral, to a child who has an email pen pal on Jupiter, to an old lady who becomes a star through “zimmerobics,” these witty, tender short stories introduce us to a unique cast of characters in a collection centered around the Scottish city of Glasgow. From the author of Being Emily and Buddha Da, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread and Orange Prizes, Hieroglyphics and Other Stories is an “excellent debut collection” (Daily Telegraph).