In Pack of Cards, Penelope Lively introduces the reader to slivers of the everyday world that are not always open to observation, as she delves into the minutiae of her characters' lives. Whether she writes about a widow on a visit to Russia, a small boy's consignment to boarding school, or an agoraphobic housewife, Penelope Lively takes the reader past the closed curtains, through the locked door, into a world that seems at first mundane and then, at second glance, proves to be uniquely memorable.

Contents:

• Nothing Missing but the Samovar
• The Voice of God in Adelaide Terrace
• Interpreting the Past
• Servants Talk About People: Gentlefolk Discuss Things
• Help
• Miss Carlton and the Pop Concert
• Revenant as Typewriter
• Next Time, We'll Mash You
• At the Pitt-Rivers
• Nice People
• A World of Her Own
• Presents of Fish and Game
• A Clean Death
• Party
• Corruption
• Venice, Now and Then
• Grow Old Along With Me, the Best Is Yet To Be
• The Darkness Out There
• The Pill-Box
• Customers
• Yellow Trains
• 'The Ghost of a Flea'
• The Art of Biography
• What the Eye Doesn't See
• The Emasculation of Ted Roper
• A Long Night at Abu Simel
• Bus-Stop
• Clara's Day
• The French Exchange
• The Dream Merchant
• Pack of Cards
• The Crimean Hotel
• A Dream of a Fair Woman
• Black Dog