Any book of stories from Bernard MacLaverty is a cause for celebration, butMatters of Life and Deathis more than that, as it is - without question - one of the finest contemporary examples of the short story as a genre.

Beginning with the sudden, nauseating terror of a family caught up in an explosion of shocking sectarian violence and ending with the white-out of an Iowa blizzard and a different kind of fear,Matters of Life and Deathis a book about bonds and connections, made and broken, secret and known. Vivid, beautifully controlled and written with effortless skill and empathy, these stories are object lessons in the art of short fiction.

Bernard MacLavertylives in Glasgow. He has written five collections of stories and four other novels, includingGrace Noteswhich was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award. He has written versions of his fiction for other media radio and television plays, screenplays and libretti.

An exquisite story collection yet from a contemporary master of the form.