Caroline Oakley – författare

From birth to death, horror to hilarity, this is a collection of stories for gardeners at home and away. Welsh women write about what gardens mean to them, what happens in them and where they take them... An Italian POW returns home to a mixed welcome from his family; a tale of loss set around a memorial oak sapling; memory and what it means to lose it; love between a mother and a daughter; and more. These are tales of sadness and happiness, home and abroad, which share a love of plants and planting, flowers and seeds, and the power of growing things to change lives.

This latest collection of short stories from Honno showcases a wide range of imaginative takes on what constitutes crime fiction. From bodies buried under the patio to old ladies with enviable inheritances, from a Chandleresque pastiche to police procedurals and fathers with an undue interest in their daughters, Welsh women writers prove themselves adept at taking an innovative sideways look at man's inhumanity to man - and, more especially, woman.

The third in a volume of short stories that take minor characters from famous novels as their starting point. 'The Wedding Planner' takes the characters from Austen's novella Lady Susan and transports them to the 21st century. Other stories focus on the less well known of the Bennet sisters, Kitty and Lydia.