Rebecca Miller

Personal Velocity Rebecca Miller

The vibrantly fresh and lustrous stories in Miller's collection explore the multifaceted lives of women in seven arresting portraits.

Modern and diverse, these women of different classes and ages struggle with sexuality, fate, motherhood, infidelity, desperation and an overriding will to survive.

We meet Greta, a cookbook editor who is chosen by Tavi, the hottest writer of his generation, to edit his new book. The book becomes a best seller, and Greta is propelled out of her marriage by her own ambition and success.

Other characters include Paula, a pregnant 21-year-old, who is on the run from the horror of a man who was hit by a car and died while walking her home from a nightclub; Delia, an abused working-class wife who goes into hiding with her children; and Louisa, a painter who moves rapidly from one lover to the next, acting out a self-perpetuating drama over which she has no control.

Edgy, fearless and beautifully spare, Personal Velocity is a superb collection from one of the best writers in contemporary fiction.