Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall

Gentle, intimate and witty, this quintet is marked by a haunting theme – the struggle to keep alive a sense of life’s romance, even as one gets older, relationships founder and youthful hopes recede. ‘Each of these stories is heartbreaking in its own way, but some have moments of great comedy, and they all require a level of attention that, typically, Ishiguro’s writing rewards.’ Observer ‘[They] come up on you quietly, but then haunt you for days . These little pieces could only be the work of a great composer.’ Evening Standard ‘A fine and moving collection of stories, displaying his unique combination of the sad, the stoic and the consoling. It’s about failure, but it dignifies failure, and with it, the human condition.’ Margaret Drabble, Guardian