{"product_id":"no-such-thing-as-a-free-lunch-9781763565678","title":"No Such Thing as a Free Lunch","description":"\u003cp\u003eVibrant short stories have always been an integral part of Rosalind Brackenbury's output. In 1975, with three astonishing novels behind her, she collected together 14 of the best to date. \u003cem\u003eNo Such Thing as a Free Lunch\u003c\/em\u003e was published as a thick, stapled booklet by a tiny press in Leicester, with illustrations by her then husband. It has since become the most elusive of all her catalogue, an absolute rarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese stories showcase Brackenbury's intense, visual and sensual style applied to would-be familiar moments: in \u003cem\u003eThe Visitor\u003c\/em\u003e, a wandering friend suddenly reappearing in the life of a pregnant young couple in their first staleness causes a new vitalisation; in \u003cem\u003eA Bird Flew In\u003c\/em\u003e a young girl undergoes a crucial day of her childhood with a wilder friend; in \u003cem\u003eOne in a Thousand\u003c\/em\u003e the struggling, socially-outcast mother of a 'difficult' boy finds a sympathetic listener in a fellow theatregoer, and reveals what she sees as her great sacrifice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe volume also includes two groups of pieces: \u003cem\u003eLemmings, Revolution \u003c\/em\u003eand\u003cem\u003e The World's End\u003c\/em\u003e posit the strange meeting between ordinary domestic life and chilling scenarios where the usual certainties of life seem to be failing; the title story, as well as \u003cem\u003eEn vacances, En voyage, A la montagne\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDans le train\u003c\/em\u003e vividly symbolise the enlivening and catalysing quality of travel in France, where relationships are propelled into new clarity by new surroundings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe renowned writer A. L. Kennedy looks back at this extraordinarily bold and tactile collection in an introduction written specially for this new edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Michael Walmer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51967118508306,"sku":"9781763565678","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fb284080-35aa-462c-aff8-fe4343e36f90.jpg?v=1768926302","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/no-such-thing-as-a-free-lunch-9781763565678","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}