Absolutely outstanding. This collection will definitely make it into my top books of 2016. They are exactly the kind of stories I like - where things happen, often bleak, sad things. These stories are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, rather than many short stories which seem to be about extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances. In many of them Haddon gives a nod to the future - a little snippet of how someone's life will turn out. I loved that, but it just made me want to know about that life, and then the next and the next.
Even though I'd give each story separately 5 stars, inevitably there are some favourites: The Pier Falls, Wodwo and The Woodpecker and the Wolf, and least - perhaps Breathe. And the hardback copy sold in bookshops has illustrations by Haddon.
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