Granta, 1999, 177 p.

It used to be that, in a saleable short story, one thing happened. Nowadays, perhaps nothing does; or then again several things may happen but the connection between them is obscure. Smith’s stories seem to glide along from thought to thought, full of acute observation, surface sheen unrippled by such vulgar concerns. Her signature style is to tell a story told by way of other stories. As with part of this collection’s overall title, apart from their first words the individual stories’ titles are not capitalised. All their title pages are adorned by a wiring diagram for a three pin electric plug. Only The theme is power bears any significant mention of electrical equipment. Unlike subsequent Smith books the right hand margin here is justified. Smith’s Scottish origins are betrayed only by one or two references.

God’s gift. A woman just back from a holiday in Greece is left “gifts” by a cat. One of them she lays on the window sill to see if it survives. The ending could be a fictional interpretation of the Schrödinger’s Cat illustration.
The hanging girl. After having had a feeling of being followed, Pauline has started to see images of a girl about to be hanged. She comforts her, and takes her home. Her life is consumed by her.
Blank card. A woman receives a delivery of flowers, but the card is blank. Her partner has not sent them.
More than one story is… more than one story. A middle-aged man and a woman who lives two or so doors down think about instances from their pasts.
Small deaths. A couple’s house, the whole town, is invaded by insects.
Virtual. A woman visiting an old family friend in hospital is fascinated by the young girl in the bed opposite who is suffering from anorexia. They make a connection through a virtual pet.
Okay so far. A couple on a touring holiday wonder about a young girl who seemed to be travelling on the same train unaccompanied and tell each other storles of their young childhoods.
Miracle Survivors. Another disjointed tale which jumps from the story of a mysterious man rescued from a deep snow drift and who tells the fortunes of the nurses who look after him to two teenage girls twenty years later spending New Year in and dialling up horoscopes on the telephone of the newsagent’s they’d entered illicitly.
The theme is power is related by one of two teenage girls at a London bus stop who are offered a place for the night by a seemingly kindly woman who then, along with a man, follows their bus journey in a car. Earlier in her childhood a man had exposed himself to her and got beaten up by her father and neighbours. Around the same time someone dobbed her shopkeeper father in to the tax authorities. In adulthood, she still trusts her lover.
Instructions for pictures of heaven. A woman looks at faces, car registrations and clouds from the sunny side of the road. Gayle, who works in a travel agent’s, does two good deeds. 16 excerpts from Margie’s life, 13 of which are captions for photographs. Finally, a set of instructions for faking pictures of heaven.
Kasia’s mother’s mother’s story. A religious woman whose husband has died, steals a wooden cross from a church and places it in her home as an aid to survival.
A story of love. A couple in bed, unable to sleep, tell each other stories. A year slides by while they do so.

In The hanging girl a game of famous last words is underway. Sadly, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance,” does not feature. (Even if John Sedgwick’s actual last words, uttered only seconds later, were, “All right, my man; go to your place.”) Also, in Okay so far, in a game of “who is dead” (Ginger Rogers will never die she lives forever, she’s an immortal) Nena – of ninety-nine red balloons fame – is said to be in Purgatory. Harsh; but fair?

Pedant’s corner:- weasly (weaselly?) back and fore (back and forth x6!!! Is back and fore some kind of Invernesian usage unknown to the rest of the English speaking world?) had showed (shown,) 4/ (abbreviation for four shillings: 4/- was the usual short form.)