These stories make up a true collection, one of place. Perhaps because much of it is set in the fens, at times I was reminded of Graham Swift's [b:Waterland|148639|Waterland|Graham Swift|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172197538s/148639.jpg|856962] and that I want to reread that novel one day. Only two of the stories have recurring characters, but it's as if each story needs the other to achieve that unifying impression of place, and that alone was impressive. (The sum being much greater than its parts?)

Some of the stories are brilliant, but none reached the high bar set by his novels. A few of the very short pieces worked for me; most didn't. A few of the stories have speculative elements. A few of the forms are inventive and with a couple of these I felt impatient, even a touch bored, but I was won over, partly, by their effective endings.

The place-names under the title of each story and the Memorial Stone 'roll-call' at the end might've meant more to me if I knew more about these villages and parishes, and what must be their vanishing landscapes and ways of life.