Agnes Owens Libri

Each selection of stories is preceded by a detailed portrait, drawn by Gray, above a reproduction of the writer's signature. The collection ends, as do so many of Gray's books, with a chapter detailing how the book got written. Postscript is a detailed memoir of Gray and Kelman, among others, attending Philip Hobsbaum's writing group in the 70s and their friendship with Agnes Owens. Gray had agreed to produce another collection of short stories, but didn't have enough written to fill a book on his own. So he used his position to help friends that he thoughts deserved the boost of publication by a major London-based publishing house. His decision has since been vindicated and the collection is seen as an early display of three talents that would be of great importance to the boom in Scottish writing in the late-80s/early-90s. Owens has since had several well-received novels published and Kelman has won the Booker prize.

This complete collection of Agnes Owens' five novellas opens with Like Birds in the Wilderness, a portrait of brickie Mac. He's a straightforward guy with a talent for laying bricks and a liking for the drink who decides to head to the oil-rich north to seek his fortune. A Working Mother is a wildly entertaining cautionary tale: while Betty's husband Adam broods and drinks (to be matched at times by Betty, just to be sociable) she flirts with their best friend Brendan and tries to avoid the roving hands of her new employer. They're all driving Betty crazy. In For the Love of Willie Owens takes a sensitive, canny look at wartime teenage pregnancy - as relevant now as ever.Bad Attitudes and Jen's Party conclude the collection: both deadly, darkly funny stories about family relationships and love on the dole.