Tea at the Midland

Overview

Filled with characters that are often delicately caught in moments of defiance, disregarding their age, their family, or the prevailing political winds, this collection finds a space for resistance and taking an honest delight in it. Alphonse, having broken out of an old people’s home, changed his name, and fled the country, pedals down the length of the Rhône despite knowing he has barely six months to live. Meanwhile, a clergyman chooses to spend Christmas Eve—and the last few hours in his job—in a frozen, derelict school, dancing a wild jig with a vagrant called Goat. Holding real life at arm’s length, this volume’s bewitching, finely-wrought stories allow readers to escape and to take possession of the moment.

Reviews

"Perhaps the finest of contemporary writers in this form."  —Reader

"Constantine is writing for his life. Every sentence and paragraph is shaped, tense with meaning and unobtrusively beautiful, his images of the natural world burning their way into the reader's mind."  —Maggie Gee, Sunday Times

Author Biography

David Constantine is a translator, the coeditor of Modern Poetry in Translation, and a former professor of German language and literature. He is the author of several books, including the poetry collection Nine Fathom Deep and the short story collections The Shieling and Under the Dam. He is the recipient of the BBC National Short Story Award.