The American lover -- Captive -- The Jester of Astapovo -- Extra geography -- A view of Lake Superior in the fall -- Man in the water -- Juliette Greco's black dress -- The housekeeper -- Smithy -- BlackBerry winter -- Lucy and Gaston -- The closing door -- 21st-Century Juliet

"Trapped in a London apartment, Beth remembers a transgressive love affair in 1960s Paris. The most famous writer in Russia takes his last breath in a stationmaster's cottage, miles from Moscow. A young woman who is about to marry a rich aristocrat instead begins a torrid relationship with a construction worker. A father, finally free of his daughter's demands, embarks on a long swim from his Canadian lakeside retreat. A middle-aged woman cares for her injured mother at Christmas. And in the grandest house of all, Danni the Polish housekeeper catches the eye of an enigmatic visitor, Daphne du Maurier" --