“The old man’s wife had died last year, so now it was just him and the dog. They made a good couple, in the dog’s opinion anyway.”

Talking animals, “the void”, a fairytale, a ghost and more. I don’t think I fully understood every single short story in this collection, but Kate Atkinson’s writing is so charming that I was immediately sucked in. After I finished reading I went back and reread some of the earlier stories and they made more sense to me. I’m sure if I reread it all again I’d get even more out of it. It was fun to see how the stories were interconnected and how it came together. Some of the stories weren’t as strong to me, which is why it wasn’t quite a 5 star for me. I also don’t think this collection is for everyone, though it was definitely for me and I loved it!