[close] Novelist Joanne Harris has received widespread critical acclaim as the creator of richly evocative tales that vividly bring to life the world, rituals, and cuisine of rural France. Now the bestselling author of Holy Fools and Chocolat widens her horizons with Jigs & Reels -- her first ever collection of short stories.

Each of the twenty-two tales in this enchanting collection is a surprise and a delight, melding the poignant and the possible with the outrageous, the magical, and, sometimes, the eerily haunting. Wolf men, dolphin women, aging monsters, defiant old ladies, suicidal lottery winners, suburban witches, and middle-aged manufacturers of erotic leatherwear -- in Jigs & Reels where the miraculous goes hand in hand with the mundane, the sour with the sweet, and the beautiful, the grotesque, the seductive, and the disturbing are never more than one step away.

Whether she's exploring the myth of beauty, the pain of infidelity, or the wonder of late-life romance, Joanne Harris once again proves herself a master of the storyteller's trade. An incomparable reading experience awaits anyone who willingly surrenders to the spins and leaps of Jigs & Reels.

Take your partners, please ...