December Stories I

The mix of emotions - anticipation, frustration, heartfelt despair, joyful ecstasy and uncertainty - associated with the Christmas period is laid bare in Ian Sansom's latest collection of short stories. However, it is not a despairing collection. Nor is it all reindeer, eggnog and happy times … that would be just too fictional. A festive collection to make readers stop and think about the nuanced difference between expectation - false and hopeful - and reality. And to wonder how we ever survive this most brutal and magical month.

Sansom's stories take us on a multitude of familiar journeys made new: the nativity play; the teacher's Christmas appeal; a Polaroid moment where 1970s Florida meets The Clash; imaginary sash windows; beards; poets; festive apparel; aging drug dealers; professional thieves; airports; the overzealous use of cellophane…