The twenty short stories in this book present a child's eye view of life as an outsider in an English village during the Second World War. Rich in period detail, the world they describe is also bleak, as villagers compete for scarce supplies of food and fuel, and the children bear the brunt of the locals' disapproval of their mother's feckless bohemian ways. The minor cruelties of the title are described with an honest, unblinking gaze, with no trace of self-pity. The prose is spare; each story a distillation which stands on its own.

Some early readers have said of the stories:

'Perfect little gems. It's a crime this talent was not discovered years ago'

'They make the hair stand up on the back of your neck'

'The dark, feminine underside of Laurie Lee's England'

'A "Hideous Kinky" of the 1940s'

'Although I'm from a different generation, "Minor Cruelties" brought back vivid memories of my own childhood - losing something valuable, being packed off to school an hour early when the clock changed, dressing up - I could practically smell the clothes'

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