Pick 'n' Mix

Gabriele Ansbach's quirky stories are both charming and alarming. She gently leads the unsuspecting reader into her surreal, madly deadpan world – a world in which love blossoms between ladies who knit, when a dress unravels; a CAT scanner clinic calmly welcomes a succession of, well, cats needing attention; a bird so small it cannot be seen but only heard is left on Miles's doorstep with a cryptic note; and a ride on a theme park thriller attraction takes a leap into the distant and slightly dystopian future. A clown bucks the trend by running away from the circus, a New York jewellery heist turns gang recruitment drive, and a bored countess goes on safari, as Ansbach springs surprise after delightful surprise on the reader.