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Pianos and flowers : brief encounters of the romantic kind / Alexander McCall Smith.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Pantheon Books, [2020]Copyright date: ©2019Edition: First United States editionDescription: ix, 179 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593315750
  • 0593315758
Uniform titles:
  • Short stories. Selections
Related works:
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Pianos and flowers
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- I'd cry buckets
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Sphinx
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Maternal designs
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Dwarf tale-teller of the Romanian Rom
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Duty
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Iron jelloids
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Students
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Zeugma
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Urchins
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- St. John's wort
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Blackmail
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Pogo sticks and man with bicycle
  • Container of (work) : McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- Plage
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Pianos and flowers -- I'd cry buckets -- Sphinx -- Maternal designs -- The dwarf tale-teller of the Romanian Rom -- Duty -- Iron jelloids -- Students -- Zeugma -- Urchins -- St. John's wort -- Blackmail -- Pogo sticks and man with bicycle -- La plage.
Summary: "In Pianos and Flowers we are invited, through the medium of sepia images, to glimpse a world long departed. In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. What must it have been like to be them? We hold our breath for them. Our heart beats faster for them. We look again at the photograph in a new light, and say Yes, it might have happened just like that. This journey of exploration takes us to some exotic places. We share the lives of three sisters, brought up in Penang. We read of what happened to them, and to their Chinese neighbors caught in the tides of war. We see a group of small boys in a Glasgow slum, their young lives stunted by poverty, and hear how life worked out in contrasting ways for them. We follow a young woman's search for love in the unlikely realm of Egyptian antiquities. And through all of these photographs, and all of these stories, there runs the same refrain: the possibilities of love, of friendship, of happiness lie before us. There are big stories in these simple pictures. At first glance the photographs may seem unexceptional: the mere freezing of a moment in time. But delve deeper and you will realize that these photographs speak volumes"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library Fiction MCCALL S ALEXANDE Available 33111009775871
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Fiction MCCALL S ALEXANDE Available 33111010452031
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library Fiction MCCALL S ALEXANDE Available 33111008984144
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A delightful collection of stories and photographs from the best-selling author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, imagining the lives and loves of everyday people in the twentieth century

Pictures capture moments in time, presenting the viewer with a window into another life. But a picture can go only so far. Who are the people in the image? What are their fears? What are their dreams?

The fourteen captivating tales in this collection are all inspired by photos from the Times of London archive. A young woman finds unexpected love while perusing Egyptian antiquities. A family is forever fractured when war comes to Penang, in colonial Malaysia. Iron Jelloid tablets help to reveal a young man's inner strength. And twin sisters discover that it's never too late to forge a new path--even when standing at the altar.

There are big stories behind these simple images. Though at first glance they may appear to represent small moments, these photographs in fact speak volumes, uncovering possibilities of love, friendship, and happiness. With his indomitable charm, Alexander McCall Smith takes us behind the lens to explore the hidden lives of those photographed; in so doing, he reveals the humanity in us all.

"Originally published in Great Britain by Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh in 2019"--Title page verso.

"In Pianos and Flowers we are invited, through the medium of sepia images, to glimpse a world long departed. In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. What must it have been like to be them? We hold our breath for them. Our heart beats faster for them. We look again at the photograph in a new light, and say Yes, it might have happened just like that. This journey of exploration takes us to some exotic places. We share the lives of three sisters, brought up in Penang. We read of what happened to them, and to their Chinese neighbors caught in the tides of war. We see a group of small boys in a Glasgow slum, their young lives stunted by poverty, and hear how life worked out in contrasting ways for them. We follow a young woman's search for love in the unlikely realm of Egyptian antiquities. And through all of these photographs, and all of these stories, there runs the same refrain: the possibilities of love, of friendship, of happiness lie before us. There are big stories in these simple pictures. At first glance the photographs may seem unexceptional: the mere freezing of a moment in time. But delve deeper and you will realize that these photographs speak volumes"-- Provided by publisher.

Pianos and flowers -- I'd cry buckets -- Sphinx -- Maternal designs -- The dwarf tale-teller of the Romanian Rom -- Duty -- Iron jelloids -- Students -- Zeugma -- Urchins -- St. John's wort -- Blackmail -- Pogo sticks and man with bicycle -- La plage.

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