Lovers and Losers of the Last Century

Valerie Kirwan''s sharp observation and sharper wit presents us with these four cameos of love loved and love lost in the last decades of the twentieth century. Local stories with universal themes, the novellas reflect the emotional roller coaster of the century of alienation. ''And Then There Were the Good Nights'' is a novella about love, friendship and good times over two decades 1974 to 1994 which focuses on a small group of friends whose lives revolve around theatre and their relationships. ''In the Cold Morning Light'' is a mystery thriller and a story of elusive love. When Aysin returns alone to Charles''s isolated house without Bebe, her lover, she becomes obsessed with questions about Bebe''s fate and Charles''s role in her disappearance. ''Michael'' is a story of illusory love which portrays a domineering mother through the eyes of Anna, her son''s girlfriend. Domination and alienation mark the bleak days spent at Michael''s mother''s house, days that culminate in Anna''s losing Michael as he withdraws into a new identity, which allows her no place in his life. ''Mrs Wedge''s Waterford and a Crate of Champagne'' is a black comedy about life without love -- Lou Wedge''s story of coping with her irascible ailing mother and her own frustrated loneliness.