A Hard Time to Be a Father : Stories

Fay Weldon won the Silver Pen Award for her last collection of stories, Wicked Women.

Here are nineteen sparkling new tales about the way we live now, as lovers, partners, children, parents. Or alone. Stories of passion, desire and necessary restraint; of the near future, the recent past; of old habits, new technology; of won't-be mothers and would-be fathers; of houses ancient and modern. Stories, in fact, to enlighten us to the true and timeless nature of the human condition, in this new age of self-knowledge.

“In her hands, nothing, truly nothing, is sacred.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Her omniscience puts one in mind of her great realist forebears, George Eliot and Doris Lessing.” —Michele Roberts, The Times

“It is a fizzy collection, so up to date you can still smell the paint . . . The spirit of storytelling is alive and well.” —The Scotsman

“Sizzles with intellectual energy and acerbic wit. Always bracing and full of zest.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Weldon is at her wry, risk-taking best . . . as always, Weldon takes no prisoners.” —Publishers Weekly

“Vintage Weldon-no holds barred and incredibly funny.” —The Charlotte Observer

“Weldon is masterful in her portrayals of females in the throes of so-called relationships. Elegantly written and bitingly smart.” —The Denver Post

“Weldon's beguiling narrative style . . . sweeps the reader convincingly away.” —The Orlando Sentinel

“One of the most cunning satirists of our time.” —The Indianapolis Star