The stories are set in California and Scotland, and observe how people live through moments of realisation. A woman realises her lover is about to say goodbye; parents learn their son may die; a girl is losing her brother to marriage; a woman who has jettisoned her marriage, suddenly discovers her husband might have been, after all, the right one.

These stories observe how people live through moments of realisation; how they negotiate the avenues of loss, with cowardice and courage and a fair amount of bewilderment.

While fishing on a sunny loch, a woman is suddenly convinced and terrified that her lover is about to leave her. Parents in San Francisco learn that their son has been in a car accident, and may be dying. A girl loses her virginity the same day as the funeral of her much despised mother, and later understands which is the greater loss.

Humour threads through these dark moments and days. Even death – especially death – is not exempt. And love is perfectly heaving with embarrassing poignancy. These are warm stories about real people. Loss changes them, but change makes them feel alive.