A collection of stories, set in an often surreal landscape of human conditions and preoccupations, about people living on the outside of society trying to survive deep-rooted fractures to get through the challenge of life. “A man stands in a vets’ surgery, sobbing and stroking the frozen head of his beloved cat. A god oversees an arbitration of fate, performing to an afterlife audience, holding a human to account for the sins of his life. A sister, living in a care home, kills her brother with a frying pan and then steers the police to help secure a conviction. A haunted painting brings a man face-to-face with his dead father, presenting him with a choice of survival or destruction.“