More praise for Are We Related?:

‘The stories in this wonderful collection are all concerned in one way or another with the family ties that bind us and tear us apart . . . There is quite a bit of fiction as well as autobiographical memoir, but all the stories share the same intensity of recollection’ Observer

‘An all-star cast struggles with fading heroes, strives to recapture lost voices, lost selves’ Psychologies

‘Writing as fine as this is consolation in itself – a reminder that, however desperate your circumstances, however difficult your life, you are not alone’ Herald

‘The whole collection sings with a depth of complex, contradictory feeling that is heartfelt, concise and awash with interior life . . . The sharpness – the cutting edge of piece after piece – is what imbues this book with its glorious, sometimes disturbing, memorability. From the very first sentence of Linda Grant’s foray into the twilight world of her mother’s descending dementia, all the way to Ali Smith’s snapshot of her father, there isn’t a dud: not even a whimper or hollow gesture to loosen the reader’s rapt concentration’ Scotsman

‘Contemplative tales about family relationships, often describing commonplace situations. Their appeal comes not from exoticism or high drama, but from the sensitivity with which the authors pick apart their emotional complexities’ Star Tribune

‘This is one of those volumes you’ll ingest ravenously then come back to again and again over the years. Rich, unsettling, by turns bleak, warm, tormented and beautiful, sources of comfort, love and pain, the families in these pieces bind with ties that can both bring together and divide, create and destroy. A stunning compilation’ Rock’s Backpages

‘An endless pleasure, finding something rich and complex in the family history boom’ Evening Standard