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ENVY AT THE CHEESE HANDOUT

Envy is a collection of thirteen stories about urban experience and escape. A woman charges her lover for sex ('A Regular Thing'), a bereavement uncovers a passionate friendship, the distribution of free EEC cheese and butter prompts a resignation, and a young mother fantasises about sleep. Furthermore: a budgerigar is murdered, a grocer gets fresh and a disenchanted box-office clerk attends a Fantasy Space Party decked in blue flip-flops and cellophane.

Published 1995, by Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-17457-4.

"The surreal situations and bleak humour of Lynne Bryan's stories stand out from the crowd." VOGUE

"The writing is black, scapel-subtle... A first collection from a powerful new writer." DAILY TELEGRAPH.

"The stories bristle with energy and, in the most unexpected places with bright shafts of humour and hope." - THE SUNDAY TIMES

"These stories touch the universal and should be read by every man. In some, Bryan achieves reconciliation of love and life so powerful it scares and sears. Her prose too is beautifully worked, spare and, at its best, almost unbearably bleak. With this collection a terrible talent is born." TIMES