In these ten bracingly subversive tales all of Hilary Mantel's gifts of characterisation and observation are fully engaged. Childhood cruelty is played out behind the bushes in ‘Comma'; nurses clash in ‘Harley Street' over something more than professional differences. <br><br>Whether set in a claustrophobic Saudi Arabian flat or on a precarious mountain road in Greece these stories share an insight into the darkest recesses of the spirit.