LIFE, ACTUALLY
- a short story collection

INTRODUCTION

LIFE, ACTUALLY is a collection of short fictions which displays all the wit and wisdom which has made Bel Mooney's journalism universally loved, combined with the insight of her six novels to date.

These are tales of ordinary people whose lives become extraordinary without them realising why. In 'Over The Road' smart girl-about-town Caroline has her carapace pierced by someone else's love. 'The Herdman's Wife' is the savage monologue of a rejected wife whose husband, a fashionable literary novelist, turns the end of their marriage into fiction. In 'Trio' uptight Elizabeth discovers sexual fantasy, whilst 'Bag Lady' introduces a small time porn merchant of a few years back who suddenly encounters the tragedy of his life on the seedy streets of Manchester.

'Waiting For Placido' and 'Poppendoktor' deal with the disappointments of love in European locations, whereas 'Christmas Puddings', set at the time of the end of communism, celebrates an unlikely flowering of true affection. 'Adam and the Floating Lady' recounts the anguish of the end of a marriage from the point of view of a child, and - more lightheartedly - 'A Country Prospect' show Bel Mooney's gift for satire.

Finally, 'A Karmic Package' unfolds like a short novel, showing how the demands of love and friendship collide in Paul's life, and suggesting that the human need for sex and romance and the subsequent disappointment is just a part of 'life, actually.'

Bel Mooney has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 to be identified as the author of these works.

Contents

Over The Road

Bag Lady

Waiting For Placido

Christmas Puddings

Trio

Poppendoktor

The Singer

The Herdsman's Wife

A Country Prospect

Adam and the Floating Lady

A Karmic Package