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• Synopsis
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• More titles by William Trevor

Synopsis

'No matter what,' Julia had said, aware then of what was coming, 'let's always play cards.'  And they did; for even with her memory gone, a little more of it each day — her children taken, her house, her flowerbeds, belongings, clothes — their games in the communal drawing room were a reality her affliction allowed.

A husband sits in Harry's Bar in Venice, thinking of his wife — lost to him now — whose plea has brought him back to one of their favourite haunts. On another table, a young couple quarrel. Cheating at Canasta is the title story of William Trevor's new collection, his first since the highly acclaimed A Bit on the Side (2004), and its themes of missed opportunities, the inevitability of change and the powerful but fragmentary quality of our memories are entirely characteristic of his unparalleled oeuvre.

Reviews

Critic Review:

'William Trevor is the greatest living exponent of the form.'
The Spectator

'The short story as Trevor writes it, as Chekhov and Hemingway wrote it, is a novel in miniature, with everything omitted except the significant moment. Trevor is a writer who finds words for the silences between people.'
The Scotsman

'Slyly humorous, thoughtful, rich in pathos, wonderfully harmonic in spirit and mood, and above all, hugely enjoyable, these tales confirm what we already knew: that Trevor is an absolute master of the genre.'
The Daily Mail

'What remains to be said about William Trevor - except the oft-repeated truth that he is not just a master but the master of the narrative form... True to such maturity and control, the stories are suffused with radiant and effortless majesty; a comprehensive ease of speaking about spaces in the human heart and mind that remains out of reach for most writers.'
The Times

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