From more than 150 short stories produced during four decades of professional writing, Barbara has picked twenty that show a variety of themes, from humour to tragedy, love to hate, revealing a wide range of human emotions and yearnings, and the highs and lows that make humanity such a fascinating study. The opening story, No Time for Pity, is a new look at an old crime: the murders of two young princes in the Tower of London, 1483. Australians are all too aware of the theme of Beached Spirit - the unwelcome arrival of beached whales. For light relief, The Cornish Pot introduces a real fairy, and in Whatever Happened to Love? the eccentricities of the aristocracy meet head-on with the end result of an ungentlemanly act. Malcolm, 15, goes to The Island to escape the irritations of family life, but the island's peace is transitory. The Old Bloke introduces us to a tramp, whose unchanging routine is shattered when he finds a dollar coin outside a fairground. How wrong can you be? The author in Breakfast in Paradise fancies himself as a student of human nature. But his confidence is deflated when breakfast at the Hotel Paradiso turns briefly into chaos. Are people ever what they seem? The final story, The Wallflower, has been included because of its special status in Barbara's career - it was the first she ever sold, and it was broadcast by the BBC

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