This is the first short story collection from an acclaimed novelist with a wide and loyal readership. Many of the stories have won prizes, been published or broadcast; some are new, written especially for the collection. Several feature artists, and are set in the past in a rural England; others are contemporary: stories set in London or Europe, of love glimpsed, lost, or longed for. "In Bratislava" is the brief encounter between a lonely businessman and young student in the aftermath of communism. Two or three look at illness and mortality: in "Last Fling", the title story, a dying woman places a lonely hearts ad. All these stories are written with Sue Gee's insight, precision and delicacy of style and tone. Her last novel, "Reading in Bed" (2007) was a "Daily Mail" Book Club Selection; her next will be published in 2012. Poignant and haunting, immensely readable, "Last Fling" is the perfect book between the two.